Table 3.

Representative metabolites altered in the liver of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) offspring at 11 months of age and the effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) and n-6 PUFA on them.

Identification	RT (Min)	m/z	Changing Trend			Significance
			GDM vs. Con	n-3adq vs. GDM	n-3def vs. GDM
Ceramide (d18:1/16:0)	17.78	560.5073	↑	↓ *	-	Biomarker for diabetes; impair insulin signaling and cause insulin resistance; increase oxidative stress; promote inflammation; contribute to non-alcohol fatty liver disease
Tetrahydro-11-deoxycortisol	11.56	337.2756	↑	↓ **	-	Impact cortisol and further impact insulin production and glucose metabolism; inhibit glycogen synthesis; cause insulin resistance
9’-Carboxy-γ-tocotrienol	16.50	395.2234	↓	-	↓ **	Antioxidant effect; improve glycemic control; prevent hyperlipidemia; suppress inflammation
α-Linolenic acid	11.93	570.3029	↓	-	↓ **	Decreases diabetic risk; improve insulin resistance; improve oxidative stress and inflammation; regulate lipid metabolism; improve non-alcohol fatty liver disease
Hexadecenoic acid	15.99	271.2649	↑	-	-	Induce endoplasmic reticulum stress and insulin resistance; lipotoxicity; enhance oxidative stress and inflammation; contribute to non-alcohol fatty liver disease
Niacinamide	0.95	123.0515	↓	-	-	Prevent diabetes; protect β cell; antioxidative role; anti-inflammatory effect
Oxalacetic acid	18.17	154.9962	↓	-	↓ *	Impact citric acid cycle and glucose and lipid metabolism; decrease of it indicate gluconeogenesis
Phenylethylamine	2.52	122.0956	↑	-	↑ **	Indicate possibility of hepatic damage and hepatic encephalopathy

The “↑” and “↓” arrows represent a significant increasing or decreasing trend of metabolites of GDM offspring. Green arrows show modulating effect on altered metabolites, and the red shows aggravating results. “-” means no significant change. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, vs. GDM offspring.