MATERNAL OBESITY IN PREGNANCY FETAL, PLACENTAL AND MATERNAL EFFECTS

Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio TX

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. We have made a cohort of baboons that is significantly heavier (p 0.05) in comparison to control-fed animals by feeding them ad lib with the high fat, highly palatable SFBR "pink" diet with nocaloric lemonade flavoring added. Having accomplished this goal, we are now requesting to breed 7 control and 8 treated animals to get data on control and overfed mothers and their fetuses with respect to a number of metabolic endpoints including maternal and fetal fat composition, fetal blood vessel physiology, insulin signaling in fat and muscle, glycogen storage and lymphocyte populations. At c-section at 90 [unreadable] 5 days of gestation (dG;range), samples of maternal femoral and abdominal subcutaneous fat and omental and perirenal fat and biopsies of soleus and gastrocnemius muscle will be taken. Finally, we will necropsy the fetuses to look at a number of tissues/organs including, but not limited to, pancreas, liver, fat, muscle, adrenal glands, microvasculature and feeding control centers in the hypothalamus and brainstem.