This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Several human epidemiological studies show that when pregnant women are under nourished at different periods of pregnancy, their offspring are susceptible to a higher incidence of major diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. This conditioning of lifetime health by the environment in the womb has been called fetal programming. Studies conduced in our laboratory and other laboratories throughout the world in non-primate species have shown that the maternal under nutrition alters the development of fetal organs such as the brain, lover, and pancreas. To date these studies have been carried out mostly in sheep and rats. The details of development of fetal sheep and fetal rats in the womb demonstrate both similarities and differences when compared to primates. It is necessary to carry out the experimental studies in a nonhuman primate species so that we can determine the extent to which nutrition compromises fetal development in primates. We propose to study two groups of pregnant baboons. One group of animals will be allowed to eat the normal diet given to all members of our colony. This is the control group. A second group will be fed 70% of the food consumed by the first group for most of the first half of pregnancy. Food intake will be standardized by maternal body weight. It has been shown that the under nutrition has different effects on the fetus at different times of pregnancy. It is therefore logical that our first study will address effects of early under nutrition. The objective of the study is to understand how the decreased availability of nutrients affects the development of key fetal organs such as the brain, heart and liver. At 165 days gestation, a cesarean section will be performed on the mother. Tissues will be obtained from the fetus to study the changes produced by under nutrition at the molecular, cellular and microscopic levels.
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