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Updated: Oct 16, 2025
Sample Preparation for Metabolic Profiling using MALDI Mass Spectrometry Imaging
Published on: December 22, 2020
Metabolomic Profile of Young Adults Born Preterm
Serafina Perrone1, Simona Negro2, Elisa Laschi3
1Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43126 Parma, Italy.
Insights
Young adults born preterm show distinct urinary metabolic profiles, similar to those found at birth. This metabolomic analysis identifies key biomarkers, aiding early risk assessment for adult diseases.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Neonatology
- Metabolomics
Background:
- Prematurity is a known risk factor for chronic adult diseases.
- Metabolomics offers insights into health status by correlating biochemical changes with phenotypes.
- Differences in metabolomic profiles between preterm and term newborns are established at birth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the metabolomic profiles of young adults born preterm versus those born at term.
- To investigate if urinary metabolic profiles in adulthood reflect neonatal outcomes related to prematurity.
Main Methods:
- Observational case-control study.
- Collection and analysis of urinary samples from young adults (18-23 years old).
- Utilized Random Forest algorithm for classification and identification of key metabolites.
Main Results:
- Significant differences were observed in the urinary metabolomic profiles of young adults born preterm compared to those born at term.
- The observed adult profiles mirrored neonatal findings.
- Random Forest achieved 82% accuracy, identifying citrate, CH2 creatinine, fumarate, and hippurate as key discriminatory metabolites.
Conclusions:
- Urinary metabolomic profiles in young adulthood can reflect outcomes of preterm birth.
- Urine spectra show promise for early identification of neonates at risk for adult diseases.
- Findings may illuminate fetal programming and infant outcomes related to prematurity.
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.
