title: Amniotic Fluid and Maternal Serum Metabolic Signatures in the Second Trimester Associated with Preterm Delivery.
abstract: Preterm delivery (PTD) represents a major health problem that occurs in 1 in 10 births. The hypothesis of the present study was that the metabolic profile of different biological fluids, obtained from pregnant women during the second trimester of gestation, could allow useful correlations with pregnancy outcome. Holistic and targeted metabolomics approaches were applied for the complementary assessment of the metabolic content of prospectively collected amniotic fluid (AF) and paired maternal blood serum samples from 35 women who delivered preterm (between 29 weeks + 0 days and 36 weeks +5 days gestation) and 35 women delivered at term. The results revealed trends relating the metabolic content of the analyzed samples with preterm delivery. Untargeted and targeted profiling showed differentiations in certain key metabolites in the biological fluids of the two study groups. In AF, intermediate metabolites involved in energy metabolism (pyruvic acid, glutamic acid, and glutamine) were found to contribute to the classification of the two groups. In maternal serum, increased levels of lipids and alterations of key end-point metabolites were observed in cases of preterm delivery. Overall, the metabolic content of second-trimester AF and maternal blood serum shows potential for the identification of biomarkers related to fetal growth and preterm delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University Thessaloniki , 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Virgiliou
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Aristotle University Thessaloniki , 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Helen G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Gika
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München , Research Unit Analytical BioGeoChemistry, Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Witting
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Athens , Panepistimiopolis, Zographou, Athens15771, Greece.
authors.forename: Anna A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Bletsou
authors.affiliation: First Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aristotle University Medical School, Papageorgiou General Hospital , 564 03 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Apostolos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Athanasiadis
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory for Mastology, Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Health and Medical Care, Alexander Technological Institute of Thessaloniki , 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Menelaos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zafrakas
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Athens , Panepistimiopolis, Zographou, Athens15771, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos S
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4624-4735
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Thomaidis
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Aristotle University Thessaloniki , 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raikos
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Ioannina , Mpizani 455 00, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Makrydimas
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University Thessaloniki , 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios A
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2015-108X
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Theodoridis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D005973:Glutamine / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D055442:Metabolome; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D019289:Pyruvic Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008055:Lipids; D005973:Glutamine; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D019289:Pyruvic Acid
keywords: amniotic fluid; biomarker discovery; maternal serum; metabolomics; preterm delivery; targeted profiling; untargeted/holistic profiling