Metabolomic Profile of Young Adults Born Preterm

Abstract

Prematurity is a risk factor for the development of chronic adult diseases. Metabolomics can correlate the biochemical changes to a determined phenotype, obtaining real information about the state of health of a subject at that precise moment. Significative differences in the metabolomic profile of preterm newborns compared to those born at term have been already identified at birth. An observational case–control study was performed at the University Hospital of Siena. The aim was to evaluate and compare the metabolomic profiles of young adults born preterm to those born at term. Urinary samples were collected from 67 young adults (18–23 years old) born preterm (mean gestational age of 30 weeks, n = 49), and at term of pregnancy (mean gestational age of 38 weeks, n = 18). The urinary spectra of young adults born preterm was different from those born at term and resembled what was previously described at birth. The Random Forest algorithm gave the best classification (accuracy 82%) and indicated the following metabolites as responsible for the classification: citrate, CH2 creatinine, fumarate and hippurate. Urine spectra are promising tools for the early identification of neonates at risk of disease in adulthood and may provide insight into the pathogenesis and effects of fetal programming and infants’ outcomes.