# The Urinary Metabolome and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Premature Infants

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $241,891

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants is a common and often severe lung disease with long
term sequelae. Therapeutic options for the prevention and treatment of BPD are limited and have not
substantially affected the incidence of disease, nor are there any early clinical biomarkers of disease. In clinical
trials of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO), the incidence of BPD was reduced in a race-specific manner. Our goal is to
understand the biological basis of BPD and response to therapies in preterm infants at high risk of disease. We
hypothesize that the development of BPD is characterized by changes in the urinary metabolome throughout
postnatal lung development, disease progression and therapies, and that these changes vary by race/ethnicity
and genomic ancestry. We will test our hypothesis with two specific aims. Specific Aim 1: Characterize the urinary
metabolome of preterm infants. We will detect and quantify urinary metabolites of 350 highly phenotyped preterm
infants from two multi-center studies. We will compare metabolic profiles before and after starting iNO therapy,
and with other treatments that influence metabolic state. We will identify changes in the urinary metabolome of
infants with and without a diagnosis of BPD at 36 wk post menstrual age. Results from this aim will provide new
information on the urinary metabolome of preterm infants, and we expect to identify metabolites and pathways
associated with therapies and respiratory outcome that could provide novel biomarkers and insight into disease
pathogenesis. Specific Aim 2: Examine the contribution of genomic ancestry to the urinary metabolome of
preterm infants. We will investigate the contribution of race/ethnicity and genomic ancestry to metabolic profiles
using existing genetic data for the same infants. We expect to identify metabolites that are associated with
genomic ancestry independent of race/ethnicity, thus identifying those with a heightened genetic determination.
Results from this aim will provide new information as to the role of genetic ancestry on the urinary metabolome
of preterm infants, notably as it relates to racial/ethnic differences in BPD and response to iNO therapy. If this
proposal is successful, it will transition into a larger proposal with the aim of querying the metabolome at
additional time points throughout postnatal development, and directly integrating metabolomics with genetic
associations studies of BPD and response to therapies.
Relevance: Our major goals are to characterize and identify changes in the urinary metabolome of preterm
infants with respect to bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and response to therapies. Results from this proposal
will facilitate the development of biomarkers and precision targeted therapies, and advance our understanding
of disease pathogenesis in a vulnerable pediatric population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9841960
- **Project number:** 5R21HD097600-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** PHILIP L. BALLARD
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $241,891
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9841960

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9841960, The Urinary Metabolome and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Premature Infants (5R21HD097600-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9841960. Licensed CC0.

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