Large size at birth is associated with complications in the mother and the baby. To complement their work on the metabolomics of fetal growth restriction (FGR) (Nature Medicine, 2020), Ulla Sovio and colleagues analysed their previously developed metabolite ratio in relation to large for gestational age (LGA) infants born at term. In the study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, they found that the metabolite ratio predictive of FGR was inversely associated with both LGA and birth weight z score as a continuous trait. These findings, obtained from the Pregnancy Outcome Prediction study, were externally validated in the Born in Bradford study.

Sovio U, Goulding N, McBride N, Cook E, Gaccioli F, Charnock-Jones DS, Lawlor DA, Smith GCS. A maternal serum metabolite ratio predicts large for gestational age infants at term: a prospective cohort study. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2021. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgab842/6432237