Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is the primary cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Moreover, previous studies have established that PTB is related to premature cervical ripening. However, the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. This study sought to identify differentially expressed metabolites and investigate their potential biological functions in PTB. Methods: Pregnant C57BL/6 J mice were treated with either LPS or normal saline and cervical alterations before labor were detected by staining. Metabolic profiles in the plasma of PTB and control mice were examined through non-targeted metabonomics analyses, quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence staining were performed on human cervical smooth cells. Results: The study demonstrated that the mRNA and protein levels of α-SMA, SM-22, and calponin in cervical smooth muscle cells of PTB mice were lower while OR was higher at both mRNA and protein levels compared to the CTL group. A total of 181 differentially expressed metabolites were analyzed, among them, 96 were upregulated, while 85 were downregulated in the PTB group. Differentially expressed metabolites may play a role in STAT3, RhoA, mTOR, TGF-β, and NK-κB signaling pathways. Furthermore, when treated with taurine, the levels of α-SMA and SM-22 in human cervical smooth muscle cells were elevated, whereas that of connexin-43 was decreased. Conclusion: Our study highlighted the changes of metabolites in the peripheral blood changed prior to PTB and revealed that these differentially expressed metabolites might participate in the development of premature cervical ripening. Taurine was identified as an important metabolite may modulate human cervical smooth muscle cells. Our study provided new insights into the mechanism underlying premature cervical ripening in PTB.

Preterm birth (PTB) is one of the most common adverse pregnancy outcomes, increasing the risk of both short- and long-term complications in infants. While the exact mechanisms of PTB has not been determined, infection and/or inflammatory responses are closely connected with it. LC/MS was utilized to evaluate the metabolites of placental tissue in control (Ctrl) and LPS injection mice to investigate alterations in placental metabolic components under inflammatory circumstances. Based on the findings of this study, 355 differentially expressed metabolites (VIP > 1, p < 0.05) were found, including 161 up-regulated and 194 down-regulated metabolites in LPS group. The discovered differential metabolites were classified into 11 categories. And these distinct metabolites were primarily enriched in biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and others. It was discovered that betaine and creatine could postpone decidual cellular senescence to varied degrees through functional verification of metabolites under amino acid subclasses. Based on these data, we speculate that metabolomic changes play a role in placental dysfunction under inflammatory response conditions, suggesting a novel target for PTB treatment.

Background: Women often use several prenatal supplements together, yet most studies evaluate products one at a time. Objective: To identify longitudinal patterns of combined prenatal supplement use and assess their associations with cesarean delivery, birth size, jaundice, and early infant growth. Methods: This multicenter cohort included 1758 mother–infant pairs from 16 provinces in China. Supplement use was reported once in the baseline questionnaire: on or before delivery for 876 women (median gestational age 38.57 weeks) and after delivery for 809. For each of seven supplements, use frequency was reported once, and participants indicated the pregnancy periods during which the supplement was used. One frequency was assigned to every period endorsed from preconception through the third trimester, giving 28 indicators for latent class analysis. Associations were estimated in exploratory multivariable models, with Benjamini–Hochberg correction within outcome families. Results: Six patterns were identified. They differ in product combination, endorsed periods, and one recorded frequency per product, and are not ordered by dose (C6 (low use), 25.7%; C4 (all-supplement high-frequency), 7.0%). Membership differed by region, parity, and pregnancy complications. Compared with C6, mid-late high-frequency core use (C5) was nominally associated with lower odds of cesarean delivery (adjusted OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.53–0.99). Persistent multi-supplement high-frequency use (C3) and all-supplement high-frequency use (C4) were nominally associated with higher odds of physiological jaundice recorded at the 40–60-day follow-up (1.65, 1.00–2.70 and 1.86, 1.04–3.27), and C4 with shorter birth length (adjusted β −0.46 cm, 95% CI −0.81 to −0.10). These associations did not remain significant after within-family correction. Macrosomia, infant eczema, and gains in length and weight showed no association. Greater head-circumference gain in mid-late moderate core use (C1) remained significant after correction (adjusted β 0.87 cm, 95% CI 0.34–1.40; q = 0.019) among 513 infants in the adjusted analysis. Conclusions: Supplement use clustered into six patterns of timing and reported frequency. The associations are observational and do not show that changing a supplement regimen would change these endpoints.