Descrizione del progetto
Correlazione tra dieta materna e asma e neurosviluppo nel bambino
L’asma e i problemi comportamentali dovuti al ritardo del neurosviluppo sono disturbi comuni dell’infanzia. Le scoperte compiute attraverso recenti sperimentazioni randomizzate nella coorte danese di madri e figli COPSAC, e riprodotte nella sperimentazione americana sulla vitamina D VDAART, suggeriscono che l’integrazione di acidi grassi polinsaturi omega-3 a catena lunga e di elevate dosi di vitamina D durante la gravidanza riducano l’insorgenza del rischio di asma, migliorino i punteggi cognitivi e accelerino i risultati linguistici o di altra natura. Il progetto DEFEND, finanziato dall’UE, approfondirà la nostra comprensione del legame tra asma e neurosviluppo con integratori alimentari e dieta durante la gravidanza e la prima infanzia. Il progetto identificherà metaboliti e percorsi biochimici significativi e promuoverà un sano sviluppo di polmoni e cervello attraverso interventi personalizzati sulla dieta durante la gravidanza.
Obiettivo
Asthma and behavioral problems related to neurodevelopmental delay such as ADHD and autism are common childhood disorder with lack of insight in disease mechanisms and no preventive measures, which is an unmet medical and societal need. In the Danish COPSAC mother-child cohort, I showed in two randomized trials that pregnancy supplements with n-3 long-chained polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFA) and high-dose vitamin D reduced offspring asthma risk, improved cognitive scores and accelerated language and milestone achievement, which was replicated in the American VDAART vitamin D trial. This holds the promise for primary prevention but establishing underlying biochemical mechanisms and effect modification by maternal and early life diet and host genetics remains to achieve a personalized preventive strategy targeting supplements only to those women, whose offspring will benefit from it. This research project aims to understand how dietary supplements and diet in pregnancy and early life shapes the child’s metabolism and how this is linked to asthma and neurodevelopment, using longitudinal untargeted and targeted metabolomics profiles from more than 1,500 mother-child pairs in COPSAC and VDAART, detailed data on maternal and infant diet, the early life exposome, and genetics and genomics data. The objective is to identify metabolites and biochemical pathways of importance for asthma and neurodevelopment, focusing on n-3/n-6 LCPUFAs, sphingolipids and tryptophan, with the ultimate goal to achieve healthy lung and brain development through personalized diet interventions during pregnancy. The transdisciplinary study group lead by the applicant consisting of MDs with pediatric, respiratory and psychiatric expertise, wet and dry lab metabolomics experts and bioinformaticians will bridge basic and clinical sciences in an international collaboration between COPSAC, Denmark, and VDAART at Harvard Medical School, US.
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-STG - Starting GrantIstituzione ospitante
3400 Hillerod
Danimarca