Abstract
Abstract
Background
Children born very preterm (VPT) are at elevated risk for adverse neurobehavioral outcomes and are vulnerable to environmental exposures. We used untargeted metabolomics analysis to identify environmentally relevant metabolites associated with childhood behavioral problems and to characterize related endogenous metabolic pathways.
Methods
We studied 226 children born
Results
Three exogenous metabolites were nominally associated with child behavior problems. Specifically, 2-(Acetylamino)-3-(2henylthiol)propanoic acid was positively associated with overall (β=1.42, p=0.006), externalizing (β=1.50, p=0.006), and internalizing (β=1.34, p=0.021) behavior problems. Diethofencarb was positively associated with overall (β=0.34, p=0.018) and externalizing (β=0.39, p=0.010) behavior problems, while protocatechuic acid was inversely associated with internalizing problems (β=−0.68, p=0.027). No associations remained significant after false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Nevertheless, these metabolites were associated with 151, 131, and 530 endogenous metabolic features, respectively, at FDR
Conclusions
Environmental metabolites associated with behavior problems were linked to broad endogenous metabolic differences relevant to neurodevelopment. These findings highlight potentially modifiable environmental influences, including exposures related to combustion-derived pollutants, pesticides, and dietary sources, that may contribute to behavioral vulnerability among children born very preterm.