. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Jun 10.

Published in final edited form as: Anal Chem. 2019 Nov 14;91(23):14784–14791. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b03338

Table 1.

Metabolomic studies performed in children malnutrition studies.

Study Design	Technique	Results and implications	Resources
Plasma samples were collected from children aged at 9 and 36 months (n=130)⁴⁷	LC-MS/MS, targeted	Revealed for the first time that metabolic signature is associated with neurodevelopment in an undernourished child cohort. Study identified 34 metabolites were associated with Height-for-Age z-score (HAZ), 37 with ΔHAZ (average HAZ), and 34 with full-scale IQ (e intelligence quotient).	^{7,23,28–30,47,57}
Serum samples of children (stunted vs non-stunted) aged <5.0 years^23,28,29	LC-MS, targeted	Uncover the decreased concentrations of circulating amino acids including essential amino acids, conditionally essential amino acids, non-essential amino acids, phosphotidylcholine, and sphingolipids in children with stunted growth compared with nonstunted (Semba 2016). Unravel lower level of w3 and w6 long-chain PUFAs, carnitine, nerosteroids, and glutathione metabolism in stunted children (Semba 2017).
Serum samples of children (Kwashiorkor vs marasmus vs community controls) aged <5.0 years⁵⁶	LC-MS, targeted	Clustering analysis identified children with SAM (kwashiorkor) were metabolically distinct from those with marasmus, and were more prone to severe metabolic disruptions. Several amino acids and biogenic amines, including those of the kynurenine-tryptophan pathways were highly reduced in SAM compared to other study groups.
Serum samples of children (aged <5.0 years) with and without environmental enteric dysfunction (EED)³⁰	LC-MS, targeted	New insights into the relationship between gut permeability and alteration of serum metabolites (Semba 2016).
Plasma samples of Children (aged <2.0 years)⁷ Low income countries vs high-income countries children 1. Gut microbes of malnourished vs well-nourished children Healthy vs stunted children	LC-MS, targeted	For the first time, this study identified reduced metabolite production capabilities in children from low income countries compared with a high-income country. Consistent with Semba et al this study also identified that stunted children had reduced levels of essential amino acids as well as lower ratio of tryptophan to other neutral amino acids compared to the healthy group. Moreover, this study also identified that gut microbiota is associated with malnutrition and reduced amino acid levels. (kumar 2018)
Fecal samples of children: malnourished with cholera, malnourished without cholera, and healthy⁵⁷	HPLC	Various short chain fatty acid metabolites (SCFA) such as acetate, propionate, valerate, and butyrate concentration were significantly lower in malnourished with cholera than that in the malnourished without cholera and healthy condition (Monira 2010)