How a mom’s inflammatory fats and lung microbes may raise a child’s allergy risk
Official title: Development of allergy in offspring is enhanced by maternal eicosanoids and lung microbiota composition dysbiosis.
Funded at Indiana University Indianapolis · NIH-11225080 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether higher levels of a type of inflammatory fat (called DHET) and changes in a mother's lung microbes increase a child's chance of developing allergies or asthma.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Indiana University Indianapolis NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Indianapolis, United States) |
| Project start | November 8, 2023 |
| Project end | October 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $785,490 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI180448-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11225080 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Pregnant people with a history of allergic disease or asthma and their newborns (for cord blood or related samples) would be the most directly relevant participants.
✕Less likely to help
People without a personal or parental history of allergic disease or older children past the newborn period are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this research.
What this research studies
Researchers will use mouse models and laboratory tests to follow how DHETs produced by allergic mothers reach offspring and influence developing immune cells. They will study lung microbiota and perform transfer experiments where lung dendritic cells or microbes from newborns of allergic mothers are given to other pups to see if allergy responses transfer. The team will measure DHETs using lipidomics and compare findings to human cord blood samples that were linked to infant wheeze. Together these approaches aim to show how maternal factors shape infant immune development and allergy risk.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If confirmed, this work could point to maternal markers or interventions to lower children's allergy and asthma risk.
How similar studies have gone: Preliminary animal experiments and small human cord blood analyses suggest links between maternal DHETs, lung microbes, and infant wheeze, but the mechanisms are largely novel and remain unproven.
Where this research is happening
-
Indiana University Indianapolis
Indianapolis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Cook-Mills, Joan M — Indiana University Indianapolis
- Study coordinator: Cook-Mills, Joan M
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.