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Published on: November 30, 2015
Maltreatment exposure is associated with metabolomic disease risk scores in children
Sonja Entringer1, Malvika Godara2, Ferdinand Hoffmann2
1Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Medical Psychology, Berlin, Germany; Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA; German Center for Mental Health, Berlin, Germany.
Insights
Childhood maltreatment exposure is linked to higher metabolomics-based risk scores for adult cardio-metabolic diseases and mortality. These metabolite profiling tools may aid early risk prediction and interventions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Metabolomics
- Public Health
Background:
- Childhood maltreatment is prevalent and a significant risk factor for adult cardio-metabolic disorders and premature mortality.
- Metabolomics offers a way to detect early biochemical changes, aiding in understanding disease pathophysiology and predicting risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between childhood maltreatment exposure and metabolomics-based risk scores for cardio-metabolic diseases and mortality in children.
- To explore the potential of metabolomics for early risk stratification and intervention in children exposed to maltreatment.
Main Methods:
- Assessed maltreatment exposure using the Maternal Interview for the Classification of Maltreatment (MICM).
- Analyzed plasma samples from 144 children with maltreatment exposure and 165 controls (mean age 8.04 years) using metabolomics assays.
- Computed metabolomics-based risk scores (Diabetes, MetaboAge, MetaboHealth) for cardio-metabolic diseases and mortality.
Main Results:
- Childhood maltreatment exposure was significantly and positively associated with all three metabolomics-based risk scores (Diabetes, MetaboAge, MetaboHealth).
- Associations remained significant after adjusting for sex and age.
Conclusions:
- Metabolomics-based risk scores show promise in identifying children at higher risk for future cardio-metabolic diseases and mortality due to maltreatment exposure.
- These findings suggest metabolomics can guide early precision interventions to prevent or reverse adverse biological risk trajectories before disease onset.
Abstract:
Exposure to maltreatment during childhood is highly prevalent and a major risk factor for cardio-metabolic disorders that emerge in adult life, as well as for earlier mortality. Metabolite profiling technologies have emerged as a promising tool to detect biochemical aberrations occurring before the onset of symptoms or diseases to elucidate pathophysiology and aid risk prediction. Here, we tested the association in children between maltreatment exposure and metabolomics-based scores that predict cardio-metabolic diseases and mortality in later life. Maltreatment exposure was assessed using the using the Maternal Interview for the Classification of Maltreatment [MICM]. In N = 144 children exposed to maltreatment and a comparison group of N = 165 children without maltreatment experience (mean age = 8.04 years, range = 3.00-12.06), metabolomics assays were performed from fasting plasma samples, and risk scores (Diabetes, MetaboAge and MetaboHealth) for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases as well as mortality were computed. Maltreatment exposure was significantly and positively associated with all three scores after adjusting for sex and age. Metabolomics-based risk scores offer a promising avenue for guiding risk stratification and early precision interventions aimed at preventing or reversing biological risk trajectories associated with childhood maltreatment exposure before disease onset.
