PMID: 12658044

Issn Print: 0277-2116

Publication Date: 2003/04/01


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Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Analysis of Meconium Composition in Newborns

C. Righetti; D. G. Peroni; A. Pietrobelli; C. Zancanaro

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Excerpt

Human meconium contains material from multiple sources (e.g., vernix caseosa, desquamated cells of the fetal alimentary tract and skin, lanugo hair, amniotic fluid) and metabolites excreted into the intestine during fetal life. Meconium starts to accumulate in the fetal intestine between the twelfth and sixteenth weeks of gestation, and it is excreted as the first newborn stool. Surprisingly, few studies have investigated the chemical composition of human meconium during the past several decades (1–7). In these studies, a particular class of compound (1–4) or even single metabolites (5–7) have been identified in meconium using different analytical techniques, which often involved elaborate sample preparation and multiple preparative procedures.
In recent years, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has become a powerful tool for tissue and body fluid analysis because of its relatively high sensitivity and its ability to detect a large number of analytes in the same sample (8). Quantification of NMR-visible molecules in meconium should provide considerable information and should help investigators understand the role of meconium chemical component in normal and pathologic conditions.
In the present study, high-resolution proton (1H) NMR spectroscopy was used to detect and quantify chemical components of the water-soluble and organic fractions of meconium from healthy, full-term newborns. To assess possible changes in composition during early postnatal life, NMR analysis of stools excreted on day 3 of life was also performed.

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