Author Correction: Analysis of sequential hair segments reflects changes in the metabolome across the trimesters of pregnancy.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Metabolomics of Pregnancy Complications: Emerging Application of Maternal Hair.

In recent years, the study of metabolomics has begun to receive increasing international attention, especially as it pertains to medical research. This is due in part to the potential for discovery of new biomarkers in the metabolome and to a new understanding of the "exposome", which refers to the endogenous and exogenous compounds that reflect external exposures. Consequently, metabolomics research into pregnancy-related issues has increased.

Analysis of sequential hair segments reflects changes in the metabolome across the trimesters of pregnancy.

The hair metabolome has been recognized as a valuable source of information in pregnancy research, as it provides stable metabolite information that could assist with studying biomarkers or metabolic mechanisms of pregnancy and its complications. We tested the hypothesis that hair segments could be used to reflect a metabolite profile containing information from both endogenous and exogenous compounds accumulated during the nine months of pregnancy. Segments of hair samples corresponding to the trimesters were collected from 175 pregnant women in New Zealand.