Peer-reviewed article
Birth season shapes the infant metabolome and development in Tanzania: a secondary explorative analysis of the early life interventions for childhood growth and development in Tanzania (ELICIT) trial.
Elizabeth A Wimborne, Daniela Hampel, Lindsay Allen, Daan R van der Veen, Gordana Panic et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how the season in which infants are born affects their body chemistry and early development in rural Tanzania. The research found that infants born at different times of year had different levels of chemicals in their urine and blood up to 18 months of age, linked to seasonal food availability and rainfall patterns. Infant cognitive development at 18 months also showed seasonal patterns, and a nicotinamide intervention to prevent stunting worked differently depending on infants' metabolic status.
Key points
- Seasonal metabolites in infant urine and plasma follow patterns based on birth month and persist to at least 18 months of life
- Metabolite patterns were associated with food insecurity, breastmilk composition, and rainfall
- Key developmental metabolites affected include choline, trimethylamine-N-oxide, and polyunsaturated fatty acids
- Cognitive measures at 18 months followed seasonal patterns correlated with seasonal metabolites
- Metabolic status modulated the effectiveness of a maternal-infant nicotinamide intervention for stunting
Limitations
This is a secondary explorative analysis of an existing trial, so it does not establish causation and cannot definitively explain the mechanisms by which birth season affects infant metabolism and development. The findings are specific to rural Tanzania and may not generalise to other contexts with different seasonal patterns or food systems.
Abstract
Rural communities in resource-limited settings are exposed to seasonal patterns in food insecurity. The pre- and early post-natal period is a key developmental window, sensitive to nutritional availability and quality. While season of birth has been associated with differences in epigenetic, developmental and health outcomes, it is unclear if this imprints on the developing metabolome and contributes to adverse phenotypic outcomes. Here we show that urinary and plasma metabolites in Tanzanian infants follow seasonal waveforms dependent upon their month of birth, persisting up to at least 18 months of life, which were related to food insecurity, breastmilk composition and rainfall. This includes developmentally relevant metabolites, including choline, trimethylamine-N-oxide, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Cognitive measures at 18 months also followed seasonal waveforms based upon month of birth which correlated with seasonal metabolites. Additionally, variation in metabolic status modulated the effectiveness of a maternal-infant nicotinamide intervention targeting stunting. Our findings show that seasonal environmental pressures shape mother-infant dyad food insecurity with lasting ramifications for the infant metabolome and development. These findings support the need for season-dependent nutritional and lifestyle interventions targeting developmental shortfalls in these communities.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Maternal-infant nicotinamide intervention targeting stunting
- Population
- Infants born in rural Tanzania at different times of year, from the ELICIT trial cohort
Key finding
Urinary and plasma metabolites follow seasonal waveforms dependent upon month of birth, persisting to at least 18 months