Etiologies of preterm delivery among obese women (part I)

ABSTRACT: Here we propose a pilot project to examine the contribution of lipid mediators and lipidomics to preterm delivery among obese women. Preterm delivery is one of the top causes of infant morbidity and mortality. Our specific interests are in understanding risks of preterm delivery among obese women, and in particular the contribution of the inflammatory response to early preterm delivery (<32 weeks) among obese women. The inflammatory response is a known contributor to preterm delivery, and obesity is associated with inflammation and an increased risk of early preterm delivery, but the distinct contribution of aberrations in the inflammatory response to preterm delivery among obese women has not been examined previously. Most previous studies of preterm delivery and the inflammatory response have examined one or only a few of its components at once, primarily cytokines, and a few studies have examined dyslipidemia. We propose to extend these types of investigations by examining lipid mediators and conducting global lipid profiling. Lipid mediators are key regulators of inflammation and include fatty acids and their oxygenated bioactive metabolites such as oxylipins (e.g., prostaglandins, HETEs or hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids, and other eicosanoids), ceramides and sphingoid bases including sphingosine-1-phosphate. Examination of lipid mediators and lipid profiling is particularly relevant to understanding distinct risks among obese women, given the known inter-relatedness of obesity, dyslipidemia, and inflammation. Our overarching hypothesis is that the inflammatory response impacts risk of preterm delivery and that its impact is distinct among obese versus non-obese women. Here we propose a pilot project that compares mid-pregnancy measurements of lipid mediators and lipid profiling among obese pregnant women. Findings from this pilot will provide critical preliminary data to inform larger-scope grant proposals that will comprehensively address our overarching hypothesis. Specifically, we will examine mid-pregnancy lipid mediators in obese women who deliver preterm compared to those who deliver at term. In addition, we will use untargeted global profiling of complex lipids to determine whether obese women who deliver preterm have a distinct lipidomic signature, relative to obese women who deliver at term. We propose a nested case-control study that utilizes maternal mid-pregnancy (15-20 weeks gestation) serum samples from a biobank that represents over one million deliveries in California from 2007-2012. We propose to examine 50 obese women who delivered preterm and 50 who delivered at term. This will provide adequate preliminary data for a larger-scale grant proposal.

INSTRUMENT(S): Triple quadrupole

ORGANISM(S): Human Homo Sapiens

TISSUE(S): Blood

DISEASE(S): Obesity

SUBMITTER: John Newman  

PROVIDER: ST000809 | MetabolomicsWorkbench | Thu Jul 20 00:00:00 BST 2017

REPOSITORIES: MetabolomicsWorkbench