How exercise during pregnancy in people with obesity affects babies' stem cells
Effect of Maternal Exercise in Women with Obesity on Offspring Mesenchymal Stem Cell Metabolism
This project looks at whether aerobic or resistance exercise during pregnancy in people with obesity changes newborns' stem cells that are linked to body fat and metabolism.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | East Carolina University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Greenville, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11252791 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you are pregnant and have obesity, the parent trial randomly assigns participants to aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, or usual care during pregnancy. Researchers will collect your infant's umbilical cord at birth and grow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from it to study cellular metabolism. The lab will turn those MSCs into fat and muscle cell types to see whether maternal exercise produces healthier cellular behavior. This ancillary study uses those cellular results to understand how prenatal exercise might protect babies from excess fat and metabolic problems.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are pregnant adults with obesity who enroll in the parent randomized trial comparing aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, or usual care.
Not a fit: People who are not pregnant, who do not have obesity, or whose infants' umbilical cords are not collected will not be eligible and are unlikely to benefit directly from this study.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help show that prenatal exercise reduces newborn body fat and improves long-term metabolic health for children born to people with obesity.
How similar studies have performed: Prior clinical work from this team shows maternal exercise can lower infant BMI and body fat, and early lab data suggest infant MSCs from exercising mothers have improved metabolism, though using MSCs to trace mechanisms in humans is still relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Greenville, United States
- East Carolina University — Greenville, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Broskey, Nicholas — East Carolina University
- Study coordinator: Broskey, Nicholas
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 below.