# Fetal Alcohol Exposure and Immune Ontogeny

> **NIH NIH R21** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $187,154

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
In the United States, 20% of women have self-reported alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and 5% of live
births manifest in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. In humans, it has been shown that even limited alcohol
exposure during gestation leads to impaired development of the immune system and an increased susceptibility
to infection. Murine models of fetal alcohol exposure (FAE) have suggested that increased susceptibility to
infection relates to defects in the adaptive immune system. In both humans and mice, FAE has been shown to
decrease the number and function of CD8+ T cells; however, the underlying basis for why this occurs remains
unknown. For example, it is not known whether FAE affects thymic output, survival of CD8+ T cells in the
periphery, or homeostatic proliferation of cells prior to infection. We also lack critical information regarding the
mechanisms underlying the altered behavior of CD8+ T cells during infection. In this study, we will use cutting-
edge approaches to determine how fetal alcohol exposure limits the development of the CD8+ T cell
compartment and impairs the host response to intracellular infection in adulthood. Our hypothesis is that FAE
shapes the adult CD8+ T cell response to infection by altering the developmental layering of CD8+ T cells. In
aim 1, we will use a novel fate mapping system to determine how FAE alters the numbers and phenotype of
CD8+ T cells produced at different stages of life. In aim 2, we will determine how FAE-mediated changes to the
adult CD8+ T cell compartment alter the host response to infection. Knowledge from these studies is expected
to pave the way for the development of critical preventive and therapeutic strategies to boost immunity in FAE
individuals.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9996445
- **Project number:** 5R21AA027344-02
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Brian David Rudd
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $187,154
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-15 → 2021-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9996445

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9996445, Fetal Alcohol Exposure and Immune Ontogeny (5R21AA027344-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9996445. Licensed CC0.

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