# Maternal and Infant Added Sugars Intake in Relation to Infant Adipose Tissue Accrual

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $39,116

## Abstract

A) Abstract of the funded parent grant (R01DK118220)
The prevalence of childhood obesity has dramatically increased leading to the prediction of a rapid
generational decline in life expectancy and to a surge in medical care costs. Offspring exposed to excessive
gestational weight gain (GWG) have greater total fat mass (FM) and central adiposity in childhood and are
more likely to be overweight or obese. Currently, 56% of pregnant women experience excessive GWG. In
pregnancies that experience GWG, it is critical to understand factors that influence FM accumulation and direct
adipose tissue (AT) distribution as these are important early drivers of obesity occurrence, disease risk, and
severity of disease development. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) influence adipocyte development and FM
accrual in two ways: influencing cell differentiation and fatty acid metabolism regulation. Increased prenatal
exposure to the n-3 fatty acid family, including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), prevented adipocyte maturation
and suppressed genes involved in lipogenesis and increased the expression of genes involved with β
oxidation. The overall net effect was a decrease in AT deposition. Observational studies associate greater
maternal DHA levels with lower offspring FM, visceral AT and greater fat-free mass in childhood. However,
data are lacking from RCT studying a contemporary U.S. based cohort where DHA is prenatally supplemented
and offspring fat accrual and distribution are directly measured. This study will take advantage of an ongoing
Phase III randomized, double blinded, and placebo controlled U.S. based pregnancy cohort (R01 HD083292,
ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02626299) in which n=400 women will be randomized to either 1000 mg/day or 200
mg/day of DHA during pregnancy.
The purpose of the follow-up study is to determine how the prenatal dose of DHA interacts with GWG to
influence offspring FM accrual. Data are lacking that examine important moderators and potential therapeutic
targets that influence offspring growth and body composition changes during a critical period of the first 1,000
days suggested to be significant for programming the offspring phenotype. To develop effective interventions, it
is important to understand nutrients that may protect against an offspring phenotype related to metabolic
disease risk. Observational evidence in humans and basic animal research suggest that DHA, a nutrient
generally low in the diet of US women, could be such a nutrient. This project is innovative, capitalizing on a
large, ongoing, RCT of high and low-dose DHA supplementation of U.S. pregnant women, testing the efficacy
of DHA supplementation in women with excessive GWG, and using direct measures of body composition
(DXA). This data will inform the gap in knowledge regarding the impact of high levels of prenatal DHA
supplementation on programming offspring FM accrual. The proposal will help identify the need for new
recommendations for prenatal DHA supplementation ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10518239
- **Project number:** 3R01DK118220-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Holly Renee Hull
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $39,116
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10518239

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10518239, Maternal and Infant Added Sugars Intake in Relation to Infant Adipose Tissue Accrual (3R01DK118220-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10518239. Licensed CC0.

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