Metabolic profiles in early pregnancy associated with metabolic pregnancy complications in women with obesity
Open accessAbstract
Higher maternal body mass index (BMI) is associated with metabolic disturbances and pregnancy complications. We aimed to examine whether metabolic profiles in early pregnancy were associated with metabolic pregnancy complications in women with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 ). Nested cohort study from a prospective longitudinal cohort ( n = 1031) of women who were healthy prior to pregnancy and gave birth at Oslo University Hospital from 2002–2008. The sample comprised 81 women with obesity. Metabolic pregnancy complications included gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. In plasma samples from gestational weeks 14–16, 91 metabolites were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We performed a principal component analysis to reduce the metabolic dimensions. Logistic regression models were fitted to estimate crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of metabolic pregnancy complications. Twenty-four out of 81 women developed metabolic pregnancy complications (gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and/or gestational diabetes). Two of five principal components (80 % explained variance) were significantly associated with metabolic pregnancy complications. The ratio of monounsaturated to total fatty acids increased the risk of metabolic pregnancy complications (OR 2.09, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.25–3.75), while the ratio of polyunsaturated to monounsaturated fatty acids decreased the risk (OR 0.54, 95 % CI 0.30–0.89). The ratio of omega-3 to total fatty acids (OR 0.59, 95 % CI 0.34–0.98) and the ratio of docosahexaenoic acid to total fatty acids (OR 0.57, 95 % CI 0.31–0.97) also decreased the risk of metabolic pregnancy complications. Metabolic profile in early pregnancy was associated with risk of metabolic pregnancy complications in women with obesity. We observed the strongest associations between fatty acid composition and metabolic pregnancy complications. Graphcal abstract created with BioRender.com. The map of Norway is generated using Servier Medical Art, provided by Servier, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 unported license. • Maternal obesity was associated with metabolic disturbances and pregnancy complications. • Maternal early pregnancy metabolites were associated with metabolic pregnancy complications. • Higher monounsaturated fatty acids increased the risk of metabolic pregnancy complications. • Higher polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-3, and DHA decreased the risk of metabolic pregnancy complications. • Future studies should investigate whether interventions aimed to improve fatty acid composition could prevent pregnancy complications.
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Metabolic profiling in early pregnancy has shown unique metabolic signatures of obesity that can predict the development of later complications and metabolic consequences.
“Moreover, metabolic profiling in early pregnancy has shown unique metabolic signatures of obesity that can predict the development of later complications and metabolic consequences (13).”
From Maternal nutritional status and the risk of metabolic syndrome in pregnancy: implications for public health nutrition (2026) · cites this paper as [13]
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Wu, Y., Gao, Z., Gou, Y., Yan, L., & Duan, Y. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1862412
Gao, C., Li, Y., Su, H., Yu, X., Lu, X., Liang, X., Tao, F., & Duan, X. (2026) · Frontiers in Nutrition · doi:10.3389/fnut.2026.1818038
- Authors
- Michelsen, T. M., Skytte, H. N., Gunnes, N., Holven, K. B., Christensen, J. J., & Roland, M. C. P.
- Affiliations
- Oslo University Hospital (NO)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Michelsen, Trond Melbye
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Reproductive Immunology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-12
- Volume
- 166
- Pages
- 104397
- ISSN
- 0165-0378 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4404504349
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2
- FWCI
- 1.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Reproductive Immunology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Gestational Diabetes Research and Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies
- Keywords
- maternal obesity, early pregnancy, plasma metabolites, fatty acid composition, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid, gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, body mass index, metabolomic biomarkers, risk prediction
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Obesity, Pre-Eclampsia, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Prospective Studies, Cohort Studies, Body Mass Index, Diabetes, Gestational, Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced, Metabolome
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