Nonhuman primate breath volatile organic compounds associate with developmental programming and cardio-metabolic...

Area of Science:

• Developmental programming
• Cardio-metabolic health
• Non-invasive diagnostics

Background:

• Reduced perinatal nutrition negatively impacts long-term cardio-metabolic health in rodents and primates.
• Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in baboons, induced by maternal nutrient restriction, leads to insulin resistance and a pre-diabetic phenotype by 3.5 years.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if exhaled breath volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can serve as non-invasive biomarkers for cardio-metabolic dysfunction programmed by in utero nutrient restriction.
• To assess breath signatures in juvenile baboons with documented cardio-metabolic issues resulting from developmental programming.

Main Methods:

• Developed a baboon model with nutrient-restricted mothers (70% of control) to induce intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in offspring.
• Collected breath samples from juvenile baboons (4.8 ± 0.2 years) using a two-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometer.
• Analyzed 76 biologically relevant VOCs using two-way ANOVA and unsupervised principal component analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified 27 VOCs with significantly altered abundances between control and IUGR baboons, considering sex and birthweight.
• Discovered novel VOCs, including 2-pentanone and 2-octanone, associated with programmed cardio-metabolic dysfunction.
• Principal component analysis successfully discriminated between male, female, control, and IUGR baboon groups based on breath VOCs.

Conclusions:

• Exhaled breath VOCs can detect cardio-metabolic programming in a baboon model of IUGR.
• This study demonstrates the translational potential of breath analysis for identifying biomarkers of programmed metabolic dysfunction.
• Further research is needed to validate these findings in human populations.