Small for gestational age (SGA): future predisposition to metabolic diseases. Mechanisms involved and biomarkers of interest

Abstract

[eng] Small for gestational age (SGA) newborns are characterised by a length and/or weight less than 2 standard deviations or less than the 3rd percentile of the mean of the reference population for that gestational age. In Spain, between 5-10% of newborns are SGA and represent a public health problem. Despite its prevalence, the study is rather limited, due in part to the heterogeneity of the study group. For these reasons, this TFM proposes 4 objectives aimed at providing, through several bibliographic searches, recent and relevant information on different aspects of SGA newborns. These include 27 publications that allow the establishment of associations between SGA and the risk of metabolic diseases, 4 that evaluate the microbiome and its influence on the risks associated with this condition, and 17 that report potential biomarkers to predict its risks. Furthermore, thanks to omics technologies, a comprehensive in silico analysis will be performed on the results of two studies evaluating epigenetic marks in SGA offspring associated with metabolic alterations. This analysis allowed us to gain new insights into the SGA condition and to identify a highly regulated gene. Finally, the results allow us to confirm that, although the study of SGA requires more research, they are associated with several risks and are characterised by a microbiota and a set of epigenetic marks that influence their condition.