{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:00:10Z","timestamp":1787029210202,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,29]],"date-time":"2025-09-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759104000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key R&D Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2021YFC2701901"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021YFC2701901"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key R&D Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2022YFC2703505"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFC2703505"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"4+X Clinical Research Project of Women\u2019s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University","award":["ZDFY2021-4X104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZDFY2021-4X104"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.mdpi.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is common in pregnancy and may affect lipid metabolism. The underlying mechanisms are multifactorial, but most evidence so far comes from non-pregnant populations. This study aims to identify metabolites and metabolic patterns associated with VDD in early pregnancy and to evaluate their relationships with maternal lipid profiles. Methods: A nested case\u2013control research was carried out in the Zhoushan Pregnant Women Cohort (ZPWC). Cases were defined as women with VDD (25(OH)D &lt; 20 ng\/mL), and controls (\u226520 ng\/mL) were matched 1:1 using propensity scores based on age, pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational week, and calendar year at blood sampling. The untargeted metabolomics of first-trimester maternal plasma were measured. Metabolic profiles were analyzed using partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to visualize group separation, and metabolite set enrichment analysis (MSEA) was performed to reveal biologically relevant metabolic patterns. Associations between VDD-related metabolite components in early pregnancy and lipid levels in mid-pregnancy were assessed using linear regression models. Results: 44 cases and 44 controls were selected for the study. There were 60 metabolites identified as being connected to VDD. Among these, 26 metabolites, primarily glycerophospholipids and fatty acyls, exhibited decreased levels in the VDD group. In contrast, 34 metabolites showed increased levels, mainly comprising benzene derivatives, carboxylic acids, and organooxygen compounds. PCA based on these metabolites explained 52.8% of the total variance (R2X = 0.528) across the first six principal components (PC1: 16.4%, PC2: 10.6%, PC3: 9.2%, PC4: 6.3%, PC5: 5.7%, PC6: 4.6%). PC2, dominated by lineolic acids and derivatives, was negatively associated with total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (all p &lt; 0.01). PC3, dominated by glycerophosphocholines, was negatively associated with TC, TG, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (all p &lt; 0.05). MSEA revealed significant enrichment of the pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis pathway after multiple testing correction (FDR &lt; 0.05). Conclusions: This study reveals distinct metabolic alterations linked to VDD and suggests potential mechanisms underlying its association with maternal lipid metabolism in early pregnancy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu17193096","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,29]],"date-time":"2025-09-29T12:59:46Z","timestamp":1759150786000},"page":"3096","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Alterations in the Metabolic and Lipid Profiles Associated with Vitamin D Deficiency in Early Pregnancy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yiwen","family":"Qiu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Health Statistics, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Boya","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Health Statistics, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nuo","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Health Statistics, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shuhui","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Health Statistics, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0800-5995","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xialidan","family":"Alifu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Health Statistics, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3538-0678","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Haoyue","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Health Statistics, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Danqing","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Women Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1342-2969","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lina","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China"},{"name":"Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Pain Perception and Neuromodulation, Hangzhou 310009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hui","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Research Center, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3394-9832","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yunxian","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Health Statistics, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, H., Wang, S., Tuo, L., Zhai, Q., Cui, J., Chen, D., and Xu, D. 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