H OH metabolites OH Review Intrauterine Growth Restriction: New Insight from the Metabolomic Approach Elena Priante 1,*, Giovanna Verlato 1, Giuseppe Giordano 2,3, Matteo Stocchero 2 , Silvia Visentin 4, Veronica Mardegan 1 and Eugenio Baraldi 1,3 1 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, 35128 Padua, Italy;
[email protected] (G.V.);
[email protected] (V.M.);
[email protected] (E.B.) 2 Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, 35128 Padua, Italy;
[email protected] (G.G.);
[email protected] (M.S.) 3 Institute of Pediatric Research, “Città della Speranza” Foundation, 35129 Padua, Italy 4 Gynecology and Obstetrics Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padua, 35128 Padua, Italy;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +39-049-8213545 Received: 17 September 2019; Accepted: 4 November 2019; Published: 6 November 2019 Abstract: Recognizing intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a matter of great concern because this condition can significantly affect the newborn’s short- and long-term health. Ever since the first suggestion of the “thrifty phenotype hypothesis” in the last decade of the 20th century, a number of studies have confirmed the association between low birth weight and cardiometabolic syndrome later in life. During intrauterine life, the growth-restricted fetus makes a number of hemodynamic, metabolic, and hormonal adjustments to cope with the adverse uterine environment, and these changes may become permanent and irreversible. Despite advances in our knowledge of IUGR newborns, biomarkers capable of identifying this condition early on, and stratifying its severity both pre- and postnatally, are still lacking.