# Investigating the role of metabolic programming in vitamin D deficiency induced adiposity

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2020 · $189,194

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is prevalent (up to 91% in the United States). Epidemiological studies
and rodent models demonstrate that vitamin D deficiency during development (DVD) leads to increased
adiposity and metabolic dysfunction. Emerging studies show these effects can persist into adulthood despite
restoration of vitamin D sufficiency. This implicates developmental programming, a mechanism by which
negative events during development cause effects that persist due to stable “programming” of phenotypic
responses. Here, we propose to build on novel findings from our lab that genetically divergent individuals differ
in susceptibility to the persistent effects of DVD. We will address three important questions regarding the role
of DVD in developmental programming of adiposity: (1) Which metabolic processes are perturbed by DVD to
alter adiposity?; (2) Is dysregulation of DNA methylation a mechanism of persistence of DVD effects into
adulthood?; and (3) Which genes and/or epimutations are responsible for differences in susceptibility. These
findings will provide mechanistic evidence that is critical for improving diagnoses and interventions of DVD-
induced obesity and related effects. Furthermore, this study will facilitate the identification of susceptibility
factors that will likely serve as valuable early detection biomarkers of long-term outcomes for preventative
measures, targets for testing efficacy of treatments, and drivers of improved study design in translating our
findings to human populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10057754
- **Project number:** 1R21DK122242-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Folami Ideraabdullah
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $189,194
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10057754

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10057754, Investigating the role of metabolic programming in vitamin D deficiency induced adiposity (1R21DK122242-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10057754. Licensed CC0.

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