How early arsenic exposure affects children's gut bacteria and diabetes risk
Official title: Early-life iAs exposure: diabetes and gut microbiome
Funded at Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill · NIH-11261755 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Finding out if arsenic exposure in early life changes gut bacteria and increases the chance of developing diabetes in children.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project start | September 11, 2020 |
| Project end | January 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $489,218 |
| NIH project number | 5P42ES031007-07 |
| Project ID | NIH-11261755 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are pregnant women, infants, or young children from areas with private well water or known early-life arsenic exposure, or families willing to provide samples for the birth cohort.
✕Less likely to help
People whose diabetes is clearly due to non-environmental causes or who had no early-life arsenic exposure are unlikely to directly benefit from this project.
What this research studies
This project looks at whether exposure to inorganic arsenic before birth and during infancy alters the gut microbiome and leads to blood-sugar problems. Researchers combine data and samples from the New Hampshire Birth Cohort (mothers and infants using private wells) with experiments in mice and laboratory analyses to identify microbial and metabolic mechanisms. The team will test whether shifting the microbiome can protect against arsenic-related metabolic dysfunction. Human sample work and animal studies are integrated to point toward possible prevention strategies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could lead to ways to prevent or reduce arsenic-related diabetes risk in children by targeting the gut microbiome.
How similar studies have gone: Prior animal and human cohort studies have linked arsenic exposure to diabetes and shown associated microbiome changes, but microbiome-based prevention for arsenic-related diabetes is still largely unproven.
Where this research is happening
-
Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lu, Kun — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Lu, Kun
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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.