Global Metabolomics of the Placenta Reveals Distinct Metabolic Profiles between Maternal and Fetal Placental Tissues Following Delivery in Non-Labored Women.

Jacquelyn Walejko,Anushka Chelliah,Maureen Keller-Wood,Arthur Edison,Anthony Gregg

doi:10.3390/metabo8010010

Abstract

We evaluated the metabolic alterations in maternal and fetal placental tissues from non-labored women undergoing cesarean section using samples collected from 5 min to 24 h following delivery. Using 1H-NMR, we identified 14 metabolites that significantly differed between maternal and fetal placental tissues (FDR-corrected p-value < 0.05), with 12 metabolites elevated in the maternal tissue, reflecting the flux of these metabolites from mother to fetus. In the maternal tissue, 4 metabolites were significantly altered at 15 min, 10 metabolites at 30 min, and 16 metabolites at 1 h postdelivery, while 11 metabolites remained stable over 24 h. In contrast, in the fetal placenta tissue, 1 metabolite was significantly altered at 15 min, 2 metabolites at 30 min, and 4 metabolites at 1 h postdelivery, while 22 metabolites remained stable over 24 h. Our study provides information on the metabolic profiles of maternal and fetal placental tissues delivered by cesarean section and reveals that there are different metabolic alterations in the maternal and fetal tissues of the placenta following delivery.

Highlights

The placenta is an organ that develops during pregnancy and has numerous functions in the mother and fetus, such as preventing rejection of the fetal allograft, transporting nutrients, eliminating waste products, and enabling gas exchange
Metabolomics studies identified the presence of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates in maternal blood prior to delivery, with citrate increasing throughout gestation, suggesting increased transport to the placenta and fetus [28,29]
We show significant metabolic differences between tissue collected from the maternal surface of the human term placenta and that collected from the fetal surface

Summary

Introduction

The placenta is an organ that develops during pregnancy and has numerous functions in the mother and fetus, such as preventing rejection of the fetal allograft, transporting nutrients, eliminating waste products, and enabling gas exchange. Sheep models of pregnancy have found that 40–80% of all oxygen and glucose that reach the placenta are utilized to produce fructose, nonessential amino acids, and lactate, which are delivered to the fetus as nutrients [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. These metabolic pathways have not been well characterized in the human placenta. Metabolic pathways of the human placenta were identified by transcriptomic analysis, but the related downstream metabolites have not yet been studied in depth [14,15]

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Conclusion