Blood Analysis Uncovers Molecular Differences in Early and Pre-Term Pregnancies, ETHealthworld
New Delhi: An analysis of blood samples from pregnant women has revealed molecular differences between pregnancies that ended early and those which ended pre-term, with some signs appearing as early as the first trimester.
Researchers from Emory University said findings suggest that molecular signs in the mother’s blood may help understand whether a pregnancy is more likely to end in a pre-term, early-term, or full-term birth.
Pre-term births — a baby born before week 37 of pregnancy — and early-term births, in which a baby is born in week 37 or 38, can have lasting health impacts.
Brain, lungs and other organs are still growing in babies during the final weeks of pregnancy and so, if born too early, a baby can have breathing problems and hearing loss, among other problems.
The analysis, published in the journal Nature Health, conducted metabolome-wide association studies among more than 500 pregnant women from the ‘Atlanta African American Maternal-Child Cohort’ (2014-2018), with serum collected in early (8-14 weeks) and later (24-30 weeks) pregnancy.
A metabolome-wide association study is a research method which looks at the relationship between one’s entire set of small-molecule metabolites and specific health outcomes.
The findings showed that molecular signs are different for babies born early spontaneously and those delivered early because of medical concerns.
The researchers said that in pregnancies that ended in spontaneous early births, the mother’s blood often showed differences in amino acids.
Amino acids are building blocks of protein, which also help support a baby’s growth, the placenta, and the body’s response to stress.
However, in cases where the mother delivered early for medical reasons, her blood showed molecular signs related to how the body uses fat for energy and responds to stress on the heart and metabolism.
“Distinct metabolic profiles differentiated spontaneous and medically indicated preterm birth and early term birth across pregnancy windows,” the authors wrote.
They said, “Perturbations in amino acid pathways, including arginine, proline, aspartate, glutamate, methionine and cysteine metabolism, were observed.”
The amino acid pathways such as aspartate and asparagine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, and glutamate metabolism are closely involved in oxidative stress and acute inflammatory response.
Amino acids in glutamate metabolism, aspartate and asparagine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism are important precursors for foetal development and growth.
Changes in amino acids valine, leucine and tyrosine were associated with a spontaneous early birth, while those in the metabolite acylcarnitine and the steroid hormone aldosterone were associated with medically indicated early birth, the study found.
