Metabolic characterization of amniotic fluids of fetuses with enlarged nuchal translucency
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Ambra Iuculano
Abstract
Background
In prenatal diagnosis, a thickened nuchal translucency (NT) is one of the most sensitive and specific markers for several defects but it may also be found in 5% of healthy fetuses. The pathophysiological causes that lead to an increase in NT are not yet fully understood. Metabolomics represents a new promising approach, useful for studying different metabolites in biological organisms in response to environmental stressors. The aim of our study was to investigate the metabolomic profile of the amniotic fluid samples (AFS) of euploid fetuses with enlarged nuchal translucency (ENT) compared to a control group (C group).
Methods
This study was carried out on a group of women who underwent second-trimester amniocentesis for advanced maternal age (C group) or for NT ≥95th percentile (ENT group) found during first-trimester aneuploidy screening. AFS were analyzed with proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and subsequent multivariate and univariate statistical analyses were conducted, followed by pathway analysis.
Results
In total, 67 AFS from the C group and 23 from the ENT group were analyzed. Partial least square discriminate analysis was carried out (R2X=0.784, R2Y=0.658, Q2=0.622, P<0.0001). A different metabolic profile was observed in the ENT group compared with the C group, suggesting an energetic shift to a glycolytic phenotype in an oxidative environment in the ENT group compared to the C group.
Conclusion
Metabolomic studies enable the identification of metabolic alterations occurring in fetuses with ENT. These findings may provide a new basis for better understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms in this prenatal phenomenon.
Acknowledgments
The authors of this manuscript would like to thank Fondazione di Sardegna for their encouraging trust and Boyana Petrova Tsikalova, MA in American and British philology, for the editing assistance.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/jpm-2018-0314).
©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
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- Review
- 10.1515/jpm-2018-0174
- Research Articles – Obstetrics
- Customised birthweight standard for a Slovenian population
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- A high concentration of fetal fibronectin in cervical secretions increases the risk of intra-amniotic infection and inflammation in patients with preterm labor and intact membranes
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- Metabolic characterization of amniotic fluids of fetuses with enlarged nuchal translucency
- Stillbirths in women with pre-gravid obesity
- Dependencies between maternal and fetal autonomic tone
- Placental thickness on ultrasound and neonatal birthweight
- Quantitative and qualitative assessment of maternal sexuality during pregnancy
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- 10.1515/jpm-2018-0201
- Prenatal diagnosis, associated findings and postnatal outcome of fetuses with double outlet right ventricle (DORV) in a single center
- Research Article – Newborn
- Therapeutic hypothermia during neonatal transport at Regional Perinatal Centers: active vs. passive cooling
