VASCULAR HEALTH IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS: AN ULTRASOUND STUDY

这个子项目是众多研究子项目之一

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goal of this proposal is to develop an R01 application to the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI, NICHD, or NIDDK) to explore patterns of behavioral and biological changes that are associated with vascular dysfunction in adolescents. To that end, the study proposed here will examine these relationships in a subset of adolescent girls enrolled in a longitudinal study of body weight, eating habits and obesity (The Girls' NEEDS Study, Leann L. Birch, PI, 5R01HD032973-10). Although atherosclerosis is not commonly diagnosed in children, autopsy studies have confirmed that fatty streaks (precursors of plaque development) are evident in children as young as 3 years of age [1]. However, little is known about risk factors for vascular dysfunction in healthy children because techniques for measuring the earliest steps in plaque development are invasive. In this project, we will use ultrasound to measure vascular function in a subgroup of adolescent girls (n = 60) who are enrolled in the Girls' NEEDS project (n = 168). Thus, we propose an interdisciplinary study between Dr. Birch (Human Development and Family Studies) and Dr. West (Biobehavioral Health) that will permit us to test new hypotheses that could not be addressed without this collaborative effort. Over the last 10 years, Dr. Birch's team has collected extensive records on developmental changes in the girls' dietary patterns, attitudes toward dieting, body weight, body composition, and family history. In addition, for the first time, the girls will provide whole blood samples for analysis of inflammatory markers and clinical components of the metabolic syndrome, including glucose, insulin, and the lipid profile. This will allow us to test whether girls with evidence of systemic inflammation and/or metabolic syndrome exhibit abnormal vascular function, and to examine whether developmental changes in body weight or eating habits are associated with markers of vascular health. This study will allow us to demonstrate that we can successfully conduct these measurements in adolescents, and it will provide an unusually rich opportunity to test developmental hypotheses about cardiovascular risk.