Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan 6;18(1):10.
doi: 10.1007/s11306-021-01868-2.

Placental metabolite profiles in late gestation for healthy mice

Céline M Schneider  1 , Katherine L Steeves  1 , Grace V Mercer  1 , Hannah George  1 , Leah Paranavitana  1 , Myrna J Simpson  2 , André J Simpson  2 , Lindsay S Cahill  3
Affiliations

Placental metabolite profiles in late gestation for healthy mice

Céline M Schneider et al. Metabolomics. .

Abstract

Introduction: During pregnancy, appropriate placental metabolism is essential for fetuses to reach their growth potential. However, metabolic mechanisms during pregnancy remain poorly understood. Determination of the levels of placental metabolites in healthy pregnancy and how they change throughout gestation is critical for understanding placental function.

Objective: To determine the effects of gestational age on placental metabolites using healthy pregnant mice.

Methods: In the present study, we collected placental tissue samples from healthy pregnant mice at three timepoints in late gestation (n = 16 placentas per gestational age). Metabolite profiles were determined using 1H high-resolution magic angle spinning magnetic resonance spectroscopy (HRMAS MRS).

Results: Using HRMAS MRS, we identified 14 metabolites in murine placental tissue samples. The relative concentration of 12 of the 14 metabolites remains unchanged throughout late gestation. Lysine was found to decrease significantly (p = 0.04) and glucose showed an inverted U-shape relationship (p = 0.03) with gestational age.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of HRMAS MRS to determine relative metabolite concentrations in murine placental tissue. These findings establish baseline levels of placental tissue metabolite profiles and will serve as reference ranges for future studies using mouse models of fetal distress.

Keywords: 1H high-resolution magic angle spinning magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Metabolomics; Mouse; Placenta; Pregnancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Aue, W. P., Bartholdi, E., & Ernst, R. R. (1976). Two-dimensional spectroscopy. Application to nuclear magnetic resonance. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 64, 2229–2246. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.432450 - DOI
    1. Austdal, M., Thomsen, L. C. V., Tangerås, L. H., Skei, B., Mathew, S., Bjørge, L., Austgulen, R., Bathen, T. F., & Iversen, A.-C. (2015). Metabolic profiles of placenta in preeclampsia using HR-MAS MRS metabolomics. Placenta, 36(12), 1455–1462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2015.10.019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beckonert, O., Coen, M., Keun, H. C., Wang, Y., Ebbels, T. M. D., Holmes, E., Lindon, J. C., & Nicholson, J. K. (2010). High-resolution magic-angle-spinning NMR spectroscopy for metabolic profiling of intact tissues. Nature Protocols, 5(6), 1019–1032. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2010.45 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cichocka, M., Kozub, J., Karcz, P., & Urbanik, A. (2018). Sex differences in brain metabolite concentrations in healthy children: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Polish Journal of Radiology, 83, e24–e31. https://doi.org/10.5114/pjr.2018.74536 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Clifton, V. L. (2010). Review: Sex and the human placenta: Mediating differential strategies of fetal growth and survival. Placenta, 31, S33–S39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2009.11.010 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types