# Prenatal Androgens and Cardiometabolic Risk in Adulthood

> **NIH NIH K08** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2020 · $129,061

## Abstract

Project Summary
The overall goal of this proposal is to investigate the relationship between prenatal androgens and
adult cardiometabolic outcomes in a human cohort taking a life-course perspective. Growing evidence
suggests that prenatal exposure to androgens may play a role in the programming of metabolic
dysfunction and cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Evidence from prenatally androgenized animal
models exposed to testosterone in early and late gestation demonstrate several cardiometabolic
impairments including hypertension, insulin resistance and adiposity in adult life. Pregnant women
with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have higher testosterone levels during pregnancy and
delivery compared to healthy mothers and their offspring tend to develop worse metabolic
parameters. Despite evidence from animal studies and patient-specific populations (ie. PCOS), data
linking prenatal androgens to adult health outcomes in the general human population has not been
well studied. The issue of developmental androgenization is of clinical relevance for investigation
because of increasing human exposure to endocrine-disrupting environmental factors that interact
with androgen receptor signaling. We propose a study in which: 1) we will relate maternal prenatal
androgen levels to offspring early childhood indicators of growth (from birth to age 7), and 2) test their
impact on predicting cardiometabolic risk in adulthood 45 years later. The proposed study, in addition
to advancing our understanding of early programming effects of androgens on cardiovascular
markers, can help identify biomarkers for human disease, potential therapeutic targets and early
periods for intervention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9898427
- **Project number:** 5K08HL132122-04
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Grace Huang
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $129,061
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-06-15 → 2021-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9898427

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9898427, Prenatal Androgens and Cardiometabolic Risk in Adulthood (5K08HL132122-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9898427. Licensed CC0.

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