# Neonatal inflammation impairs control of breathing

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2021 · $75,885

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Viral-induced infections and the corresponding inflammation in newborns are common clinical problems, and
with continued improvements in health care, more infants (including those born preterm) are surviving. Yet, the
long-term impacts on adults of such early life stressors remains poorly understood. Our parent grant is pioneering
investigations on the significant and lasting impairments to the respiratory system after neonatal bacterial-
induced inflammation. Our work to date shows impairments to multiple pathways of adult respiratory motor
plasticity in males and females, even in pathways thought to be inflammation resistant. Preliminary data are
identifying sex-specific mechanisms mediating lasting adult neuroinflammation impairments in respiratory
control. While this work is critical for understanding lasting impacts of early bacterial inflammation, there is an
urgent need to study the growing population of infants exposed to neonatal viral-induced inflammation. This
proposal utilizes our robust and well-established experimental foundation from our current award, and the known
effects of acute viral-induced inflammation in adults, to test the hypothesis that viral-induced neonatal
inflammation significantly impairs adult respiratory motor plasticity. Experimental approaches to complete
this study (phrenic nerve recordings in anesthetized rats and plethysmography in unanesthetized rats) are
currently being used to test parallel hypotheses with bacterial-induced inflammatory stimuli in the parent grant.
Further, we previously demonstrated that acute, adult viral inflammation abolishes adult respiratory motor
plasticity in a unique time course involving a different set of inflammatory markers than those observed in
bacterial-based inflammation. However, we know little about the effects of neonatal viral inflammation on any
aspect of respiratory control. This proposal will be the first to begin characterizing the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on an understudied and growing population of infants exposed to viral inflammation and the long-term
impact of this early life stressor. Results from the proposed studies will significantly advance our understanding
of the long-term effects of neonatal viral-induced impairments persisting into adulthood in both sexes.
Collectively, the results from the parent grant and this proposal will assess the stimulus specificity of neonatal
inflammation (bacterial and viral) on adult respiratory control. The findings from these critical areas of study are
necessary to identify adult vulnerability to subsequent inflammatory challenges, identify new therapeutic targets,
and establish foundational knowledge to develop novel treatment strategies for adults with ventilatory control
disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10378435
- **Project number:** 3R01HL141249-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** Adrianne Genest Huxtable
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $75,885
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10378435

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10378435, Neonatal inflammation impairs control of breathing (3R01HL141249-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10378435. Licensed CC0.

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