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Symptoms of Anxiety During Pregnancy and Metabolism: A Pilot Metabolomics Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

E. Toffol ,
A.P. Elomaa ,
V. Glover ,
P. Kivimäki ,
M. Pasanen ,
L. Keski-Nisula ,
P. Huuskonen ,
S. Voutilainen ,
V. Velagapudi  and
S. Lehto
E. Toffol
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Helsinki, Finland
A.P. Elomaa
Affiliation:
University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Clinical Medicine/Neurosurgery, Kuopio, Finland
V. Glover
Affiliation:
Imperial College London, The Centre for Mental Health, London, United Kingdom
P. Kivimäki
Affiliation:
University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Clinical Medicine/Psychiatry, Kuopio, Finland
M. Pasanen
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
L. Keski-Nisula
Affiliation:
University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Clinical Medicine/Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kuopio, Finland Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
P. Huuskonen
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
S. Voutilainen
Affiliation:
University of Eastern Finland, Unit of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, Kuopio, Finland
V. Velagapudi
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Helsinki, Finland
S. Lehto
Affiliation:
University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Clinical Medicine/Psychiatry, Kuopio, Finland Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

Abstract

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Introduction

Anxiety symptoms are frequent during pregnancy, and they adversely affect pregnancy outcomes and offspring development. The underlying biological mechanisms are not known, but may in part be explained by alterations in certain maternal metabolic pathways. No metabolomic studies have investigated possible metabolic alterations in anxious pregnant women.

Objective

This pilot study compared the metabolic profiles of anxious and non-anxious pregnant women using a mass spectrometry-based quantitative metabolomics system.

Methods

Cases were 20 participants of the Kuopio birth cohort study (www.kubico.fi) with first and third trimester symptoms of anxiety (Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, anxiety subscale – EPDS-3A ≥ 4), but no depression (EPDS ≤ 12). Controls were 20 participants with low anxiety (EPDS–3A ≤ 3) and depression (total EPDS ≤ 9) in both the first and third trimester. Maternal metabolic profiles were analyzed from serum samples drawn when the mothers arrived at the delivery hospital.

Results

Metabolic pathway analyses revealed significant enrichment in the glycine, serine and threonine metabolism (P = 0.046), as well as in the betaine (P = 0.048) metabolism pathways. Homocysteine was the only metabolite to significantly differentiate between cases and controls (VIP score 3.3), with lower concentrations in cases (P = 0.003) even when excluding non-users of folic acid supplementation (n = 5; P = 0.002), C-sections (n = 5; P = 0.013), or samples taken immediately postpartum (n = 2; P = 0.004). No other metabolites significantly differed between the groups.

Conclusions

Physiological adaptation induced by pregnancy, which may have homogenized the study populations, could explain the only minor metabolic differences between the two groups. Further research in larger samples, comparing metabolic alterations in umbilical cord blood and maternal blood is warranted.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
e-Poster walk: Genetics & molecular neurobiology and neuroscience in psychiatry
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 41 , Issue S1: Abstract of the 25th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2017 , pp. S169
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2017
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