Does maternal obesity drive childhood obesity through interactions between the gut microbiome and gut endocrine cells?

Does maternal obesity drive childhood obesity through interactions between the gut microbiome and gut endocrine cells?

Chief Investigator: Professor Damien Keating

Research Area: Reducing childhood obesity and its impacts. Basic Science.

Funding Year: 2021

Funding Amount: $91,237

Recipient: Flinders University

Overview:

There is clear evidence that children born to obese mothers have increased obesity and cardiac problems in childhood and beyond. However, little is understood about how this occurs. This project will undertake proof of concept experiments that will test whether interactions between the gut microbiome and neighbouring endocrine cells lining the gut wall drive these effects. We will combine molecular genetics, pharmacology, diet perturbations and fecal matter transfer in mice to determine whether interventions targeting the gut microbiome and gut-derived hormones can prevent childhood obesity in progeny derived from obese mothers.

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