ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Altered amino acid profiles of the “mother–fetus” system in COVID-19

About authors

Kulakov National Medical Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology, Moscow, Russia

Correspondence should be addressed: Natalia A. Lomova
Oparina, 4, Moscow, 117997, Russia; ur.xednay@avomol-ahsatan

About paper

Funding: the study was funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant reg. number 2004-60093.

Author contribution: Lomova NA — clinical data management, manuscript writing; Chagovets VV —mass spectrometry assay, statistical analysis of the data, manuscript editing; Dolgopolova EL — collection and processing of clinical samples in “red zone”, statistical analysis of the data; Novoselova AV — mass spectrometry assay, processing of spectral data; Petrova UL — collection and processing of clinical samples in “red zone”; Shmakov RG — clinical sample collection and data management, manuscript editing; Frankevich VE — concept, data management, writing and editing of the manuscript.

Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by Ethical Review Board at the V.I. Kulakov National Medical Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology (protocol № 13 of 10 December 2020) and carried out in compliance with Declaration of Helsinki, the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Guideline, and Federal Law № 323-FZ “On Basics of Health Protection of Citizens in the Russian Federation” of 21 November 2011. Informed consent for the study was provided by all participants.

Received: 2022-04-14 Accepted: 2022-04-28 Published online: 2022-05-17
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Fig. 1. Boxplots of amino acid concentrations in the maternal venous blood plasma for the two groups of the study. Box limits represent lower and upper quartiles (respectively, Q1 and Q3); box heights are interquartile ranges (IQR); horizontal lines in the boxes are medians (Q2); the whisker termini are within Q3+1.5 IQR (upper) and Q1-1.5 IQR (lower); * — р-value ≤ 0,05; р-value ≤ 0,01; * — р-value ≤ 0,001. 1-mHis — 1-methyl-L-histidine; 3-mHis — 3-methyl-L-histidine; bAla — β-alanine; BAIBA — 3-aminoisobutyric acid; 5-OH-Lys — DL-5-hydroxylysine; MEA — ethanolamine; ABA — L-2-aminobutyric acid; AAD — L-2-aminoadipic acid; Ala — L-alanine; Arg — L-arginine; Asn — L-asparagine; Asp — L-aspartic acid; Car — L-carnosine; Cit — L-citrulline; Cyt — L-cystathionine; cystine — L-cystine; Glu — L-glutamic acid; Gln — L-glutamine; Gly — L-glycine; His — L-histidine; Lys — L-lysine; Met — L-methionine; Orn — L-ornithine; Phe — L-phenylalanine; Pro — L-proline; Ser — L-serine; Thr — L-threonine; Trp — L- tryptophan; Tyr — L-tyrosine; Val — L-valine; Tau — taurine; 4-OH-Pro — trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline
Fig. 2. Boxplots of amino acid concentrations in the amniotic fluid for the two groups of the study. Box limits represent lower and upper quartiles (respectively, Q1 and Q3); box heights are interquartile ranges (IQR); horizontal lines in the boxes are medians (Q2); the whisker termini are within Q3+1.5 IQR (upper) and Q1-1.5 IQR (lower); * — р-value ≤ 0,05; р-value ≤ 0,01; * — р-value ≤ 0,001. 1-mHis — 1-methyl-L-histidine; 3-mHis — 3-methyl-L-histidine; BAIBA — 3-aminoisobutyric acid; 5-OH-Lys — DL-5-hydroxylysine; MEA — ethanolamine; ABA — L-2-aminobutyric acid; AAD — L-2-aminoadipic acid; Car — L-carnosine; Cit — L-citrulline; Cyt — L-cystathionine; 4-OH-Pro — trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline
Fig. 3. Boxplots of amino acid concentrations in the umbilical cord blood plasma for the two groups of the study. Box limits represent lower and upper quartiles (respectively, Q1 and Q3); box heights are interquartile ranges (IQR); horizontal lines in the boxes are medians (Q2); the whisker termini are within Q3+1.5 IQR (upper) and Q1-1.5 IQR (lower); * — р-value ≤ 0,05; р-value ≤ 0,01; * — р-value ≤ 0,001. 1-mHis — 1-methyl-L-histidine; 3-mHis — 3-methyl-L-histidine; bAla — β-alanine; BAIBA — 3-aminoisobutyric acid; 5-OH-Lys — DL-5-hydroxylysine; MEA — ethanolamine; ABA — L-2-aminobutyric acid; AAD — L-2-aminoadipic acid; Ala — L-alanine; Arg — L-arginine; Asn — L-asparagine; Asp — L-aspartic acid; Car — L-carnosine; Cit — L-citrulline; Cyt — L-cystathionine; 4-OH-Pro — trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline
Fig. 4. Charts of the metabolic pathway influence for amino acid markers in the studied biological samples: amniotic fluid (A); cord blood plasma (B); venous blood plasma (maternal, C)
Table 1. Clinical characterization of the main group (patients with COVID-19 while pregnant)
Table 2. Clinical characterization of the two groups of the study