MRI-based Assessment of Hippocampal glutamate and morphometric changes in preterm infants at term equivalent age with low birth weight

MRI-based Assessment of Hippocampal glutamate and morphometric changes in preterm infants at term equivalent age with low birth weight | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article MRI-based Assessment of Hippocampal glutamate and morphometric changes in preterm infants at term equivalent age with low birth weight Lumeng Xu, He Gong, Qingfa Ren, Shuyuan Xia, Minglong Li, Hongyu Ning, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7047511/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Pediatric Radiology → Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Low birth weight and preterm (PT) infants may have higher risks of poor health. As the key brain region for learning and memory, the normal development of the hippocampus is crucial for cognitive abilities of preterm infants. This study aimed to analyze hippocampal glutamate (Glu) and morphometric changes in preterm infants at term equivalent age (TEA) with different birth weight. Materials and methods Eighty-seven infants (23 full-term (FT) infants and 64 PT infants) participated, born between 2023 and 2025, underwent MRI at TEA. Glutamate chemical exchange saturation transfer (GluCEST) MRI and 3D-SPACE were used to assess hippocampal Glu levels and morphometric changes. The PT cohort was categorized by birth weight: PT infants born at extremely and very low birth weight (PT ELBW&VLBW ), PT infants born at low birth weight (PT LBW ) and PT infants born at normal birth weight (PT NBW ). FT infants born at normal birth weight (FT NBW ) were included as controls. Results PT ELBW&VLBW exhibited elevated Glu levels, PT LBW showed intermediate Glu levels. In infants with normal birth weight, PT at TEA have higher glutamate levels than FT. No differences in bilateral hippocampal Glu levels within each group. The bilateral hippocampal volume, surface area, and long diameter in PT ELBW&VLBW were all significantly smaller than those in PT NBW . Morphological analysis revealed rightward hippocampal asymmetry across all PT groups. Conclusion Birth weight significantly influences hippocampal glutamate levels and morphology in PT infants. These findings offer new insights into metabolic variations in preterm neurodevelopment. Preterm infants Hippocampus MRI Birth weight Glutamate Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Pediatric Radiology → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 14 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 10 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 08 Jul, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 08 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 04 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7047511","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":483607386,"identity":"63b2b2a1-de3e-4c13-a1e2-326ebd5f4449","order_by":0,"name":"Lumeng Xu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Binzhou Medical University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lumeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Xu","suffix":""},{"id":483607387,"identity":"da45cedb-9a77-4946-be5b-84ca087fea95","order_by":1,"name":"He Gong","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Binzhou Medical 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weight","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"pediatric-radiology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"prad","sideBox":"Learn more about [Pediatric Radiology](http://link.springer.com/journal/247)","snPcode":"247","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/247/3","title":"Pediatric Radiology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Preterm infants, Hippocampus, MRI, Birth weight, Glutamate","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7047511/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7047511/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBackground\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLow birth weight and preterm (PT) infants may have higher risks of poor health. As the key brain region for learning and memory, the normal development of the hippocampus is crucial for cognitive abilities of preterm infants. This study aimed to analyze hippocampal glutamate (Glu) and morphometric changes in preterm infants at term equivalent age (TEA) with different birth weight.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaterials and methods\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEighty-seven infants (23 full-term (FT) infants and 64 PT infants) participated, born between 2023 and 2025, underwent MRI at TEA. Glutamate chemical exchange saturation transfer (GluCEST) MRI and 3D-SPACE were used to assess hippocampal Glu levels and morphometric changes. The PT cohort was categorized by birth weight: PT infants born at extremely and very low birth weight (PT\u003csub\u003eELBW\u0026amp;VLBW\u003c/sub\u003e), PT infants born at low birth weight (PT\u003csub\u003eLBW\u003c/sub\u003e) and PT infants born at normal birth weight (PT\u003csub\u003eNBW\u003c/sub\u003e). FT infants born at normal birth weight (FT\u003csub\u003eNBW\u003c/sub\u003e) were included as controls.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eResults\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePT\u003csub\u003eELBW\u0026amp;VLBW\u003c/sub\u003e exhibited elevated Glu levels, PT\u003csub\u003eLBW\u003c/sub\u003e showed intermediate Glu levels. In infants with normal birth weight, PT at TEA have higher glutamate levels than FT. No differences in bilateral hippocampal Glu levels within each group. The bilateral hippocampal volume, surface area, and long diameter in PT\u003csub\u003eELBW\u0026amp;VLBW\u003c/sub\u003e were all significantly smaller than those in PT\u003csub\u003eNBW\u003c/sub\u003e. Morphological analysis revealed rightward hippocampal asymmetry across all PT groups.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eConclusion\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBirth weight significantly influences hippocampal glutamate levels and morphology in PT infants. These findings offer new insights into metabolic variations in preterm neurodevelopment.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"MRI-based Assessment of Hippocampal glutamate and morphometric changes in preterm infants at term equivalent age with low birth weight","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-07-14 16:55:22","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7047511/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-09-14T08:18:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-10T21:40:48+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"254067803207725939971999201132839399991","date":"2025-09-02T14:24:05+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-07-10T11:39:57+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-07-09T02:23:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-07-09T02:20:54+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Pediatric Radiology","date":"2025-07-04T13:54:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"pediatric-radiology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"prad","sideBox":"Learn more about [Pediatric Radiology](http://link.springer.com/journal/247)","snPcode":"247","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/247/3","title":"Pediatric Radiology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"1ca00c24-ea4e-41a8-b73f-c96a7e4c44b3","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 14th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-27T16:23:11+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7047511","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-025-06435-8","journal":{"identity":"pediatric-radiology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Pediatric Radiology"},"publishedOn":"2025-10-23 16:16:41","publishedOnDateReadable":"October 23rd, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-07-14 16:55:22","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s00247-025-06435-8","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-025-06435-8","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7047511","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7047511","identity":"rs-7047511","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}