How prenatal choline and maternal high-fat diets affect a child's future risk of fatty liver (NASH)
Official title: Interaction of Choline and Fat in the Prenatal Programming of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis
Funded at Brooklyn College · NIH-11322146 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work tests whether giving extra choline during pregnancy can lower offspring risk of fatty liver disease when exposed to high-fat diets.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brooklyn College NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | July 19, 2023 |
| Project end | April 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $157,915 |
| NIH project number | 5R16GM149383-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11322146 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This research is most relevant to pregnant people with obesity or high dietary fat intake who are concerned about their child's future liver and metabolic health.
✕Less likely to help
People already living with advanced NASH or those not pregnant are unlikely to get direct benefit from this preclinical work.
What this research studies
Researchers will give pregnant animals extra choline and compare them with animals on normal choline levels while some mothers eat high-fat diets. They will follow the offspring to see how much fat and inflammation build up in their livers and whether blood sugar control is improved. The team will also look at chemical markers that control fat genes and protective fats that act as antioxidants. Findings are compared to prior lab results that showed choline reduced fetal liver fat and changed gene methylation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If findings translate to people, maternal choline supplements could become a simple way to reduce children's lifetime risk of NASH and related metabolic problems.
How similar studies have gone: Previous animal studies, including work from this lab, showed maternal choline lowered fetal liver fat and improved early glucose control, but human evidence is limited.
Where this research is happening
-
Brooklyn College
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Jiang, Xinyin — Brooklyn College
- Study coordinator: Jiang, Xinyin
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.