Discover the critical link between maternal smoking habits during pregnancy and their impact on newborn metabolite levels, as revealed by the latest findings from the PRAMS and INSPIRE Birth Cohorts.
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Associations between Smoking and Smoking Cessation during Pregnancy and Newborn Metabolite Concentrations: Findings from PRAMS and INSPIRE Birth Cohorts.
Snyder et al., Metabolites 2023
DOI: 10.3390/metabo13111163
The study investigates the impact of maternal smoking during the third trimester on newborn metabolite concentrations. Using data from the Tennessee Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) and INSPIRE cohorts, the research found that third-trimester smoking was linked to higher median concentrations of certain metabolites at birth: free carnitine (C0), glycine (GLY), and leucine (LEU). Specifically, in the PRAMS cohort, the adjusted fold changes for C0, GLY, and LEU were 1.11, 1.03, and 1.04, respectively, with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Similar trends were observed in the INSPIRE cohort. Importantly, smoking cessation during pregnancy was associated with lower metabolite concentrations, suggesting that the adverse effects of smoking on fetal metabolite levels may be reversible.
Significance: This research highlights potential biomarkers for fetal exposure to smoke and suggests mechanisms for how smoking during pregnancy may affect childhood health outcomes. It also provides evidence that stopping smoking can lead to metabolite levels that are closer to those found in infants of non-smokers, indicating a potential benefit of cessation for fetal health.