{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T06:07:20Z","timestamp":1775801240079,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,22]],"date-time":"2024-02-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1708560000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"NSERC","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RGPIN\/04238-2018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RGPIN\/04238-2018"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"NSERC","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["#200700595"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#200700595"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Alberta Innovates Interdisciplinary Team","award":["RGPIN\/04238-2018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RGPIN\/04238-2018"]}]},{"name":"Alberta Innovates Interdisciplinary Team","award":["#200700595"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#200700595"]}]},{"name":"Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital Foundation","award":["RGPIN\/04238-2018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RGPIN\/04238-2018"]}]},{"name":"Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital Foundation","award":["#200700595"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#200700595"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Preterm birth, defined as any birth before 37 weeks of completed gestation, poses adverse health risks to both mothers and infants. Despite preterm birth being associated with several risk factors, its relationship to maternal metabolism remains unclear, especially in first-time mothers. Aims of the present study were to identify maternal metabolic disruptions associated with preterm birth and to evaluate their predictive potentials. Blood was collected, and the serum harvested from the mothers of 24 preterm and 42 term births at 28\u201332 weeks gestation (onset of the 3rd trimester). Serum samples were assayed by untargeted metabolomic analyses via liquid chromatography\/mass spectrometry (QTOF-LC\/MS). Metabolites were annotated by inputting the observed mass-to-charge ratio into the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB). Analysis of 181 identified metabolites by PLS-DA modeling using SIMCA (v17) showed reasonable separation between the two groups (CV-ANOVA, p = 0.02). Further statistical analysis revealed lower serum levels of various acyl carnitines and amino acid metabolites in preterm mothers. Butenylcarnitine (C4:1), a short-chain acylcarnitine, was found to be the most predictive of preterm birth (AUROC = 0.73, [CI] 0.60\u20130.86). These observations, in conjuncture with past literature, reveal disruptions in fatty acid oxidation and energy metabolism in preterm primigravida. While these findings require validation, they reflect altered metabolic pathways that may be predictive of preterm delivery in primigravida.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu16050595","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,22]],"date-time":"2024-02-22T08:34:35Z","timestamp":1708590875000},"page":"595","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Maternal Acylcarnitine Disruption as a Potential Predictor of Preterm Birth in Primigravida: A Preliminary Investigation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Ying-Chieh","family":"Han","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Katarina","family":"Laketic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kylie K.","family":"Hornaday","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"},{"name":"Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2811-3632","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Donna M.","family":"Slater","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"},{"name":"Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9405-5907","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chunlong","family":"Mu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada"},{"name":"Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Suzanne C.","family":"Tough","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1224-979X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jane","family":"Shearer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"},{"name":"Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada"},{"name":"Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1016\/j.siny.2015.12.007","article-title":"Global Burden of Prematurity","volume":"21","author":"Harrison","year":"2016","journal-title":"Semin. 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