Abstract
BackgroundPregnancy is governed by multiple molecular and cellular processes, which might influence pregnancy health and outcomes. Failure to predict and understand the cause of pregnancy complications, adverse pregnancy outcomes, infant’s morbidity and mortality, have limited effective interventions. Integrative multi-omics technologies provide an unbiased platform to explore the complex molecular interactions with an unprecedented depth. The objective of the present protocol is to build a longitudinal mother-baby cohort and use multi-omics technologies to help identify predictive biomarkers of adverse pregnancy outcomes, early life determinants and their effect on child health.Methods/design: One thousand pregnant women with a viable pregnancy in the first trimester (6–14 weeks of gestation) will be recruited from Sidra Medicine hospital. All the study participants will be monitored every trimester, at delivery, and one-year post-partum. Serial high-frequency sampling, including blood, stool, urine, saliva, skin, and vaginal swabs (mother only) from the pregnant women and their babies, will be collected. Maternal and neonatal health, including mental health and perinatal growth, will be recorded using a combination of questionnaires, interviews, and medical records. Downstream sample processing including microbial profiling, vaginal immune response, blood transcriptomics, epigenomics, and metabolomics will be performed.DiscussionIt is expected that the present study will provide valuable insights into predicting pregnancy complications and neonatal health outcomes. Those include whether specific microbial and/or epigenomics signatures, immune profiles are associated with a healthy pregnancy and/or complicated pregnancy and poor neonatal health outcome. Moreover, this non-interventional cohort will also serve as a baseline dataset to understand how familial, socioeconomic, environmental and lifestyle factors interact with genetic determinants to influence health outcomes later in life. These findings will hold promise for the diagnosis and precision-medicine interventions.
Highlights
Pregnancy is governed by multiple molecular and cellular processes, which might influence pregnancy health and outcomes
It is expected that the present study will provide valuable insights into predicting pregnancy complications and neonatal health outcomes
Prominent examples are: gestational hypertension [3], gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM; defined as glucose intolerance that is first detected during pregnancy) [4], mental health disorders [5], stillbirth [6], preterm birth (PTB; defined as delivery before the end of 37 weeks of gestation) [7], preeclampsia [8] and low birth weight [9]
Summary
Pregnancy is governed by multiple molecular and cellular processes, which might influence pregnancy health and outcomes. The emerging evidence indicates that these pregnancy complications influence the growth and development of the fetus during pregnancy and increase their susceptibility to multiple diseases later in the life [10, 11]. In addition to the pre-natal period, the first 1000 days after birth represent a critical window in the newborn’s health and immune system development [14, 15] During this window, several factors such as the mode of delivery, preterm or term birth, antibiotics usage, environmental exposure, etc., can alter or influence an individual’s immune response and propensity for developing immune disorders as well as susceptibility to chronic diseases during childhood or later [16]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
