From: Perspectives on the design and methodology of periconceptional nutrient supplementation trials
Study activity | Non-pregnant | Pregnant | Placenta | Post-partum | Child (birth – 24 months) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Health history and assessment | Exclusion criteriaa Demographic and socio-economic status; Food security, dietary and drug history; Morbidity, obstetric and reproductive histories; BP; mental health; workload | Uterine artery pulsatility (UtAPI) and resistance indices (UtARI) at 28–32 w gestation;b BP; Ultrasound: 1st trimester: gestational and yolk sac development; 2nd/3rd: biparietal diameter, HC, AC, FL; LMP; drug use | History of pre-eclampsia | Mental health | Gestational assessment, infant feeding practices, neuro-behavioural assessments, fat-free mass oto-acoustic emissions; drug use |
Anthropometry c | Wt, Ht, MUAC, Skin-fold thickness, BMI, ultrasound of abdominal visceral fat | Wt, Ht, MUAC | Wt, diameter | Wt, Ht, MUAC, BMI | Wt, recumbent Lt, crown-rump Lt; head, upper arm, abdominal circumference |
Haematology | Baseline anaemia | Hb, MCHC, MCV, red cell distribution width | Cord Hb, ferritin, sTfR | Hb, cord clamping time | Hb at 3, 6 12Â months |
Biochemistry | Iron biomarkers,d sera and RBC folate, micronutrient profiling, metabolome | Iron biomarkers, sera and RBC folate; amino acids, lipids, fatty acids, renal function, gluconeogenesis, anti-oxidant profile,e metabolome | Ratio plasminogen-activator inhibitor (PAI)-1: PAI-2,f uterine-artery Doppler waveform at 18–22 weeks gestation,f cord blood metabolitesg | Iron biomarkers, micronutrients, amino acids, lipids, fatty acids, breast milk composition | Iron and folate biomarkers, amino acids, lipids, fatty acids, micronutrients, anti-oxidant profile,e metabolome |
Endocrinology | Adipose tissue-secreted hormones (adipokines): leptin, visfatin, resistin, apelin, omentin, sex steroids, growth factors | Cortisol, progesterone, oestradiol, thyroid function, pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A); free β-human chorionic gonadotrophin (β-hCG) | Cord placental growth factor (PlGF); soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt1)h | Adipokines | Hormonal growth factors, glucose homeostasis |
Infection | Blood/stool samples, STIsi HIV, bacterial vaginosis, vaginal microbiome | Bacterial vaginosis, STIs | Chorioamnionitis, malaria histology | Bacterial vaginosis, vaginal microbiome | Gut helminths, malaria, respiratory, diarrhoea, HIV, health attendances, fecal microbiome, thymic size |
Inflammation | CRP, AGP | CRP, AGP | Specific maternal-cord antibody titres | CRP, AGP | CRP, AGP |
Genotype profile | Blood storage | - | Micro RNAsj | - | Blood storage, micro RNAs |