Wahab RJ, Jaddoe VWV, Voerman E, et al. - The results of this study illustrated that a higher maternal prepregnancy BMI was correlated with altered maternal early-pregnancy amino acids, non-esterified fatty acids, phospholipids, and carnitines. Researchers distinguished a maternal metabolite profile that improved the prediction of birth weight in women with a higher prepregnancy BMI in comparison with glucose and lipid concentrations using these metabolites.

• It was shown that a higher prepregnancy BMI was correlated with 72 altered amino acid, non-esterified fatty acid, phospholipid, and carnitine concentrations and 6 metabolite ratios reflecting Krebs cycle, inflammatory, oxidative stress, and lipid metabolic processes (p-values<0.05).

• A metabolite profile was selected including 15 metabolites and 4 metabolite ratios using penalized regression models, based on its relationships with birth weight in addition to prepregnancy BMI.

• As per the findings, 6.1% was the adjusted R ² of birth weight for prepregnancy BMI alone, 6.2% after addition of glucose and lipid concentrations, and 12.9% after addition of the metabolite profile.