AUTHOR=He Hua , Nuyt Anne Monique , Luo Zhong-Cheng , Audibert Francois , Dubois Lise , Wei Shu-Qin , Abenhaim Haim A. , Bujold Emmanuel , Marc Isabelle , Julien Pierre , Fraser William D. ,  3D Study Group 

TITLE=Maternal Circulating Placental Growth Factor and Neonatal Metabolic Health Biomarkers in Small for Gestational Age Infants

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2018

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2018.00198

DOI=10.3389/fendo.2018.00198

ISSN=1664-2392

ABSTRACT=Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. It is unknown whether any prenatal biomarkers are helpful for identifying SGA infants with altered metabolic health profile at birth or later life. In a nested study of 162 SGA (birth weight <10th percentile) and 161 optimal birth weight (25th-75th percentiles) control infants in the 3D (design, develop and discover) birth cohort in Canada, we assessed whether maternal circulating placental growth factor (PlGF), a biomarker of placental function, is associated with metabolic health biomarkers in SGA infants. Main outcomes were cord plasma insulin, proinsulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), leptin and high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin concentrations. Maternal PlGF concentrations at 32-35 weeks of gestation were substantially lower in SGA versus control infants (P<0.001), so as were cord plasma proinsulin (P=0.005), IGF-I (P<0.001), leptin (P<0.001) and HMW adiponectin (P=0.002) concentrations. In SGA infants with both low (<25th percentile) and normal maternal PlGF concentrations, cord plasma IGF-I and leptin concentrations were lower than control infants, but the decreases were to a greater extent in SGA infants with low maternal PlGF. Cord blood leptin levels were lower comparing SGA infants with low vs. normal maternal PlGF levels (P=0.01). SGA infants with low maternal circulating PlGF levels at late gestation were characterized by greater decreases in cord blood IGF-I and leptin concentrations. Maternal circulating PlGF appears to be associated with neonatal metabolic health profile in SGA infants.