Maternal metabolic profiling to assess fetal gestational age and predict preterm delivery: a two-centre retrospective cohort study in the US.
Karl G SylvesterShiying HaoJin YouLe ZhengLu TianXiaoming YaoLihong MoSubhashini LadellaRonald J WongGary M ShawDavid K StevensonHarvey J CohenJohn C WhitinDoff B McElhinneyXuefeng Bruce LingPublished in: BMJ open (2020)
In this study, metabolic profiling was used to develop and test a model for determining gestational age during full-term pregnancy progression, and to determine risk of preterm birth. With additional patient validation studies, these algorithms may be used to identify at-risk pregnancies prompting alterations in clinical care, and to gain biological insights into the pathophysiology of preterm birth. Metabolic pathway-based pregnancy modelling is a novel modality for investigation and clinical application development.