# Maternal Traumatic Stress, Oxidative Stress, Antioxidant Exposures, and Child Asthma and Lung Function

> **NIH NIH R01** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2021 · $229,232

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Childhood respiratory and atopic disease accounts for substantial morbidity and disproportionately burdens
urban, poor minority children. The origins of child respiratory health begin in utero and are influenced by
modifiable factors, such as maternal psychological stress and diet. While research points to the need to study
both maternal diet and psychological stress together, this has not been done to date in regards to child
respiratory outcomes. Also, traumatic stress is of particular importance in lower income populations given a
higher prevalence of exposure. Evidence linking prenatal stress to asthma and lung function is growing;
however, mechanisms remain poorly understood. Although psychological stress impacts health through
numerous pathways, oxidative stress is invariably identified as a central component. Prenatal stress may
disrupt placental, and consequently fetal, oxidant/antioxidant balance, which likely plays a role in stress-
induced programming of wheeze/asthma risk and impaired lung growth. Conversely, higher prenatal
antioxidant/anti-inflammatory intakes (e.g., vitamin E, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFAs]) reduce
placental oxidative stress and are linked with decreased child wheezing and asthma. This will be the first
prospective study to examine associations between maternal traumatic stress, oxidative stress, antioxidant
status and child asthma and lung function. We will measure prenatal traumatic stress and diet to prospectively
examine the novel central hypothesis that prenatal maternal traumatic stress contributes to wheeze/asthma
risk and reduced lung function in childhood, that oxidative stress plays a key role, and that associations will be
modified by prenatal nutritional exposures that reduce fetal vulnerability to oxidative stress. We will study
associations among maternal prenatal traumatic stress, oxidative stress indexed by F2-Isoprostanes, and child
asthma/wheeze (Aim 1), lung function (Aim 2), and how maternal nutritional exposures (Vitamin E, n-3 PUFAs)
may modify relationships (Aim 3). The Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in
Early Childhood (CANDLE) cohort is a prenatal cohort of largely urban, low-income, African-American
mother-child dyads, which, to our knowledge, is the only cohort with the prenatal exposure data and banked
samples needed to address our aims. The study leverages existing prenatal and postpartum psychosocial
assessments, prenatal dietary assessments, banked biospecimens, and proposes prospective follow-up to
ascertain wheeze/asthma/atopic disease and lung function at age 9 years. This study will inform how dietary
interventions may help mitigate psychosocial stress-elicited oxidant imbalance and consequent effects on
developmental programming of respiratory disorders. Findings have the potential to impact clinical policy and
practice and inform trials of dietary interventions to reduce stress effects on lung function.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10469874
- **Project number:** 7R01HL132338-06
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** KECIA Nicole CARROLL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $229,232
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10469874

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10469874, Maternal Traumatic Stress, Oxidative Stress, Antioxidant Exposures, and Child Asthma and Lung Function (7R01HL132338-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10469874. Licensed CC0.

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