| IntroductionL-arginine,usually classified as a non-essential amino acid,is considered to be essential for some specific physiological status(including trauma,pregnancy,embryo,infant,etc.).In recent years,arginine has been increasingly applied to the field of maternal and child health,in attempt to reduce early embryo death,to improve fetal survival,and to promote physical development of children.Evidence from animal experiments indicated a significant increase of fetal survival and birthweight by a perinatal arginine supplement.Intervention trials showed a dramatical increase of birthweight in fetuses with IUGR after taking the arginine intravenious drips(3g/d,20d).Several cross-sectional studies found a significant positive correlation between maternal blood arginine level and the fetal birthweight.Previous studies have mostly focused on the relationship between arginine and the physical development in infants at birth,while no study in a prospective manner has been conducted to explore the relationship between arginine level and the physical development in infants after birth.In this program,we followed up a group of pregnant women in Guangzhou to analyze the relationship between maternal and cord blood arginine level and the body size in infants,trying to strengthen the theoretical basis of regulating the perinatal arginine level,in pursue of a better physical growth in children.Objective1.Analyze the relationship between maternal and cord blood arginine levels and the body size(body weight,body length and BMI)in infants;2.Analyze the relationship between blood arginine level and the physical growth(body weightgain,body lengthgain,and BMI change)in infagts3.Analyze the relationship between blood arginine level and the occurrence of abnormal physical growth(including macritus,obesity,etc.)in infants.MethodsPregnant women at Yuexiu and Baiyun Maternal and Child Health Care Hospitals in Guangzhou were employed in this program.Finally,we collected 459 copies of questionnaires,205 pieces of maternal blood samples and 92 pieces of cord blood samples.Determination of the blood arginine level was conducted by LC-MS,calculation of Z scores by a piece of software named WHO Anthro 3.2.2,and the data analysis by SPSS 20.A Spearman correlation test was conducted to test the impact of blood arginine level on the infant body size and its change.GLM was applied to explore the impact of blood arginine level on the birth body size.GEE was also performed to explore the impact of blood arginine level on the postnatal body size.Logistic regression was employed to test the difference of the occurrence of abnormal body growth in infants behtween different groups of blood arginine levels.Results1.The average age of mothers in this study was 27.3(5.7)years old,the average pre-pregnancy BMI was 19.82(2.97)kg/cm2,and the average weight gain during pregnancy was 15.0(6.0)kg.For infants,the average weight at birth,1 month,3 months,6 months and 12 months was 3.24 0.40,4.72 0.59,6.59 0.81,8.01 0.79 and 9.80(1.00)kg,respectively.The average body length was 50.00(1.00),55.00(2.37),61.6 2.4,67.7 2.2 and 76.0(2.08)cm,respectively.2.According to this study,the average blood arginine level of 205 maternal samples was 266.74 ± 128.46 mol/L,and the average one of 92 cord blood samples was 160.00(118.50)mol/L,and the former one was significantly higer(P<0.05).3.After Adjusted for testing time,infant gender,maternal age,pre-pregnant BMI,pregnancy weightgain,maternal education level,delivery way,gestational week,production,and parity,there was no correlation between maternal arginine level and the birth size or its change in infants(P>0.05).Negatively,maternal arginine level related to the BAZ change in infants during the first year of life(P=0.035).No significant impact was found cof maternal arginine level on the occurrence of macritus or obesity in infants(P>0.05).4.After Adjusted for testing time,infant gender,maternal age,pre-pregnant BMI,pregnancy weightgain,maternal education level,delivery way,gestational week,production,and parity,cord blood arginine level positively turned out to have no correlation with birth body size(P>0.05),while positively correlated with infant WAZ(P=0.049),WAZ(P=0.012)change and LAZ(P=0.005)change in infants during the first year of life.Infants with high level of cord blood arginine carried a 2.70 times higher risk of being obese or overweight than those with low level(OR=2.70,95%CI(1.00,7.27)).Conclusion1.Maternal blood arginine level was averagely higer than the cord blood(266.74±128.46 mol/L vs.160.00(118.50)mol/L),between which there being no significant correlation.2.No significant relationship between blood arginine level and the birth body size in infants was found.3.A positive impact of cord blood arginine level's increase was testified on the weitht and length growth in infants.While a negative imapact of maternal blood arginine level's increase was found on the BMI growth in infants.4.Infants with high level of cord blood arginine carried a 2.70 times higher risk of being obese or overweight than those with low level.While the change of maternal blood arginine level caused no risk change. |
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