�A pestis of fleshiness in the United States already is known to increase the risk of illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and joint problems. Now, an infusion of $6.4 1000000 in grant support from the National Institutes of Health will enable researchers at the University of Pittsburgh-affiliated Magee-Womens Research Institute to enquire what purpose obesity may play in preeclampsia, a common knottiness of gestation that stern be grievous for mother and baby. The grant is a renewal of funds originally awarded 14 years agone to support studies into the basic mechanisms of preeclampsia, merely the focus on corpulency is a new direction for research.
"We know there is a impregnable relationship 'tween pre-pregnancy obesity and preeclampsia, and at least a third of all meaning women in the United States are obese," aforementioned Carl A. Hubel, Ph.D., assistant prof in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and principal police detective of the project. "Our work represents the first multidisciplinary evaluation of the possible mechanisms of the disease process as it relates to obesity."
Although obesity is often viewed as a cosmetic or character flaw, the disorder is linked to disturbances in vital metabolic processes "that are posing one of the greatest health threats in human history," said Dr. Hubel, wHO also is an associate investigator at the Magee-Womens Research Institute.
Pittsburgh researchers will study the interactions of proteins, lipids and other cellular components in an effort to find important relationships between body weight and preeclampsia, a disorder characterized by perilously high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine. Preeclampsia affects about 5 per centum of number one pregnancies, and women with preeclampsia are more likely to suffer the upset in subsequent pregnancies.
"Preeclampsia is complex, with components involving improper vascular growth and operation in the placenta, rubor and other factors. Obesity also is related to inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, abnormal fatty acids and a host of other metabolic concerns," he continued.
Investigations associated with the five-year NIH grant revolve around the interactions of specific immune system factors and basic cellular components to discover their relationship to the metabolic stress of pregnancy and placental development to resolution in the hallmarks of preeclampsia.
"These adverse effects of obesity on maternity also may be affected by lifestyle, sleep patterns, activity and diet," aforesaid Dr. Hubel.
The obesity focus represents an entirely new direction in these preeclampsia studies, which ar part of a14-year coaction among researchers from Magee and the University of California, San Francisco. Other University of Pittsburgh scientists taking share include Robin Gandley, Ph.D., Robert W. Powers, Ph.D., Nina Markovic, Ph.D., James M. Roberts, M.D., Augustine Rajakumar, Ph.D., Valerian Kagan, Ph.D., Sanjeev Shroff, Ph.D., Lisa Bodnar, Ph.D., Janet Catov, Ph.D., and Arun Jeyabalan, M.D.
About the Magee-Womens Research Institute
The Magee-Womens Research Institute, the country's first research institute devoted to women and infants, was established in 1992 by Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC. The Institute has attracted some $100 trillion in assignment funding direction on the critical motive for research in women's and infant's health and representing the Institute's continued strong ties to the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences and UPMC. http://institute.mwrif.org
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
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