# Investigation into statins as prevention and treatment of inflammation in pregnancy

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER · 2020 · $80,183

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Prematurity remains a leading cause of short- and long-term neonatal morbidity of the respiratory (respiratory
distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasia), central nervous (intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular
leukomalacia, cerebral palsy), and gastrointestinal systems (necrotizing enterocolitis), as well as mortality.
Leading mechanisms for the PTB spectrum and its related adverse neonatal outcomes are exaggerated
maternal and fetal/neonatal inflammation, secondary to infectious or noninfectious etiologies
Our central hypothesis is that prenatal administration of statins abolishes the inflammatory responses in fetal
tissues by increasing the hemoxygenase-1 expression in a murine model of LPS-induced systemic maternal
inflammation.
The proposed hypothesis will be investigated in an established animal model, in which pregnant mice are
treated with either a lipophilic (simvastatin) or hydrophilic (pravastatin) statin with and without HO-1 inhibitor
before or after intra-peritoneal administration of LPS.
These studies are clinically significant as they will 1) determine gender differences in response to maternal
inflammation and statin treatment, 2) determine HO-1’s role in preventing fetal/neonatal inflammatory injury by
statins, and 3) establish the effectiveness of lipophilic versus hydrophilic statins in preventing fetal
inflammatory response to maternal systemic inflammation. Successful testing of aims will introduce new
paradigms for development of therapies to prevent fetal complications of preterm birth.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9975203
- **Project number:** 5R03HD097424-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Egle Bytautiene Prewit
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $80,183
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-10 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9975203

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9975203, Investigation into statins as prevention and treatment of inflammation in pregnancy (5R03HD097424-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9975203. Licensed CC0.

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