Abstract
Object
To establish and compare normative metabolite concentrations in 2nd and 3rd trimester human amniotic fluid samples in an effort to reveal metabolic biomarkers of fetal health and development.
Materials and methods
Twenty-one metabolite concentrations were compared between 2nd (15–27 weeks gestation, N = 23) and 3rd (29–39 weeks gestation, N = 27) trimester amniotic fluid samples using 1H high resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) spectroscopy. Data were acquired using the electronic reference to access in vivo concentrations method and quantified using a modified semi-parametric quantum estimation algorithm modified for high-resolution ex vivo data.
Results
Sixteen of 21 metabolite concentrations differed significantly between 2nd and 3rd trimester groups. Betaine (0.00846±0.00206 mmol/kg vs. 0.0133±0.0058 mmol/kg, P < 0.002) and creatinine (0.0124±0.0058 mmol/kg vs. 0.247±0.011 mmol/kg, P < 0.001) concentrations increased significantly, while glucose (5.96±1.66 mmol/kg vs. 2.41±1.69 mmol/kg, P < 0.001), citrate (0.740±0.217 mmol/kg vs. 0.399±0.137 mmol/kg, P < 0.001), pyruvate (0.0659±0.0103 mmol/kg vs. 0.0299±0.286 mmol/kg, P < 0.001), and numerous amino acid (e.g. alanine, glutamate, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, and valine) concentrations decreased significantly with advancing gestation. A stepwise multiple linear regression model applied to 50 samples showed that gestational age can be accurately predicted using combinations of alanine, glucose and creatinine concentrations.
Conclusion
These results provide key normative data for 2nd and 3rd trimester amniotic fluid metabolite concentrations and provide the foundation for future development of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) biomarkers to evaluate fetal health and development.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge and thank Drs. Hélène Ratiney and Herald Rabeson of Creatis-Lrmn, University of Lyon, for providing the HR-QUEST algorithm used in this research. We also thank Drs. Mark J. Albers, Andrew S. Zektzer, and Daina Avizonis for technical support and helpful discussions. This work was supported in part by grants from the RSNA Research and Education Foundation (Berlex Laboratories/RSNA Research Scholar Grant), the UCSF Research Evaluation and Allocation Committee, and the UCSF Academic Senate Committee on Research. In addition, this publication was made possible by Grant Number: 1 TL1 RR 024129 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NCRR of NIH. Information on NCRRis available at http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/. Information on Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise can be obtained from http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/clinicalresearch/overview-translational.asp.
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Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
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Cohn, B.R., Joe, B.N., Zhao, S. et al. Quantitative metabolic profiles of 2nd and 3rd trimester human amniotic fluid using 1H HR-MAS spectroscopy. Magn Reson Mater Phy 22, 343–352 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-009-0184-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-009-0184-0