title: Cord Blood Metabolome Is Highly Associated with Birth Weight, but Less Predictive for Later Weight Development.
abstract: Fetal metabolism may be changed by the exposure to maternal factors, and the route to obesity may already set in utero. Cord blood metabolites might predict growth patterns and later obesity. We aimed to characterize associations of cord blood with birth weight, postnatal weight gain, and BMI in adolescence.
  
  
  
  Over 700 cord blood samples were collected from infants participating in the German birth cohort study LISAplus. Glycerophospholipid fatty acids (GPL-FA), polar lipids, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), and amino acids were analyzed with a targeted, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry based metabolomics platform. Cord blood metabolites were related to growth factors by linear regression models adjusted for confounding variables.
  
  
  
  Cord blood metabolites were highly associated with birth weight. Lysophosphatidylcholines C16:1, C18:1, C20:3, C18:2, C20:4, C14:0, C16:0, C18:3, GPL-FA C20:3n-9, and GPL-FA C22:5n-6 were positively related to birth weight, while higher cord blood concentrations of NEFA C22:6, NEFA C20:5, GPL-FA C18:3n-3, and PCe C38:0 were associated with lower birth weight. Postnatal weight gain and BMI z-scores in adolescents were not significantly associated with cord blood metabolites after adjustment for multiple testing.
  
  
  
  Potential long-term programming effects of the intrauterine environment and metabolism on later health cannot be predicted with profiling of the cord blood metabolome.
authors.affiliation: Division of Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine, Dr. von Hauner Children&apos;s Hospital, University of Munich Medical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hellmuth
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Uhl
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Standl
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Demmelmair
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.forename: Berthold
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koletzko
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thiering
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D055442:Metabolome / Q000502:physiology*; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D008055:Lipids
keywords: Childhood obesity; Cord blood; Early programming; Metabolomics