Fetal–Maternal–Neonatal Metabolomics

Dear Colleagues,

The maternal–fetal–neonatal axis plays a critical role in determining the risk of developing complications during pregnancy and childbirth as well as the effect of these complications on maternal and infant health outcomes. These complications include, but are not limited to: maternal preeclampsia, diabetes, intrauterine growth restriction, and preterm birth, as well as complications of prematurity in the infant such as necrotizing enterocolitis, neonatal sepsis, anemia, intraventricular hemorrhage, and patent ductus arteriosus. Early diagnosis of these complications is challenging mostly because they are complex syndromes with multiple causes and underlying mechanisms. Only limited advances in the prevention of maternal and prenatal disorders have developed in recent decades, highlighting the need to devise new approaches to improve the health of women and their children.

The metabolomics of the maternal–fetal–neonatal axis is a rapidly expanding field of research relating maternal metabolic characteristics and health before and during pregnancy, to infant and maternal health outcomes. Metabolomics, by analysis of small molecule metabolism present in biological samples taken at different stages of a pregnancy, offers a window to investigate metabolic aspects of increasingly prevalent conditions including maternal obesity, gestational diabetes, infection, fetal growth restriction, preterm birth, and environmental exposures, influencing optimal outcomes for postnatal maternal and infant health and for infant development. Current technologies applied to metabolomics include LC–MS, GC–MS, NMR, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR).

Dr. Susanne Aufreiter
Dr. Bo Li
Guest Editors

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