ArticleCommunications medicine2026
Maternal metabolic signatures at early gestation associated with birth weight and neurodevelopment in early childhood.
Article in Communications medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEmerging evidence suggests that maternal factors during pregnancy can exert effects on offspring. However, the underlying metabolic associations remain insufficiently understood.
methodsWe investigated associations between first-trimester maternal metabolic profiles and offspring development with large-scale untargeted metabolomics in the prospective Shanghai Birth Cohort (N = 1158). Birth weight and cognitive scores at age four assessed with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence were used as short- and long-term developmental indicators.
resultsHere we show maternal fatty acid and phospholipid metabolism in early pregnancy is significantly associated with birth weight. Carnitine, LPE 18:2, and LPG O-13:1 are negatively associated with birth weight, whereas PC 32:2, glycerophosphocholine and several fatty acids show significant positive associations. Several dipeptides have positive associations with cognitive outcomes, while many fatty acids and N-acylethanolamines are negatively associated. Among the six cognitive indices, verbal comprehension has the most metabolite associations, with 4-pyridoxic acid, 1-methylxanthine, and phenylalanyltryptophan being most strongly linked. 4-Pyridoxic acid, a vitamin B6 metabolite, significantly mediates the positive association between multivitamin intake and cognitive development. Several metabolites show sex-specific associations with offspring development, which is consistent with the known sex-related differences in early childhood developmental patterns.
conclusionsMaternal metabolism in early pregnancy is associated with birth weight and long-term cognitive development in offspring. As maternal metabolic profiles reflect both genetic and environmental influences, many metabolites mediate maternal influences on development and reflect sex-specific patterns in child growth.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.