Is Fructose Linked to Adiposity in Babies?

Obesity Clinical Trial

— FLAB  

Official title:

Is Fructose Linked to Adiposity in Babies?

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01262781
• Other study ID #: SFGH 6281
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: December 15, 2010
• Last updated: April 9, 2014
• Start date: January 2011
• Est. completion date: January 2013

Study information

• Verified date: April 2014
• Source: University of California, San Francisco
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The obesity epidemic has reached down into the infant and toddler age group. Dietary indiscretion during pregnancy, particularly in our current food environment, is a major risk factor for both gestational diabetes and neonatal macrosomia (>4kg newborns), which is itself a risk factor for obesity and metabolic syndrome in the offspring, possibly even during childhood. Temporal increases in fructose consumption in the last two decades coincide with temporal increases weight gain during pregnancy and with increased birth weight, including a higher prevalence of macrosomic newborns. Our central hypothesis is that higher fructose consumption during pregnancy is a risk factor for infant obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Description:

The "fetal origins hypothesis" suggests that an individual's risk for obesity and metabolic disorders begins in utero; that fetal or early postnatal exposure to environmental factors, such as maternal nutrition or endocrine disrupting chemicals, adversely influences early development and results in permanent changes affecting energy storage and expenditure.

Most studies on "fetal origins" of obesity in the offspring have focused on maternal high-fat diets; yet dietary fat consumption has not changed appreciably in the last two decades. One chemical exposure in both pregnant mothers and newborns that has been steadily increasing worldwide is fructose. Although ostensibly a carbohydrate, fructose is a potent lipogenic substrate, and in the hypercaloric state, as much as 30% of an ingested fructose load undergoes de novo lipogenesis to form triglyceride thus the effects of high-fat and high-fructose diets in terms of physiology and outcome are comparable. Substituting sucrose (fructose + glucose) for glucose alone increases visceral adiposity, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia in adult animals and humans. For humans, fructose is ubiquitous in the food environment, especially for pregnant mothers, who are often counseled to drink juice during pregnancy, as it is deemed to be healthier than soda. The effects of fructose consumption during pregnancy on infant birth weight and adiposity has not yet been studied.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 40
• Est. completion date: January 2013
• Est. primary completion date: June 2012
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 18 Years to 40 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Agreement to participate in all measurements

• Plans to remain in the area through delivery

• Ability to understand and give informed consent in either English or Spanish.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of diabetes prior to the index pregnancy

• Presence of gestational diabetes during a previous pregnancy

• Presence of diabetes or of other chronic metabolic disease such as cardiovascular disease, active thyroid disease, liver disease, pulmonary or psychiatric disorders, HIV

• Any disorder requiring diet therapy (i.e., renal insufficiency)

• Multiple gestation

• Prior history of intrauterine growth retardation

• Use of substances known to cause intrauterine growth retardation (e.g., smoking or drug use). -

• Once recruited, any ultrasonographic evidence of intrauterine growth retardation during the course of the pregnancy would also lead to exclusion.

Study Design

Observational Model: Cohort, Time Perspective: Prospective

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Metabolic Syndrome
• Metabolic Syndrome X
• Obesity

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	San Francisco General Hospital	San Francisco	California

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of California, San Francisco	San Francisco General Hospital

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	% adiposity (DEXA)	After delivery, neonatal adiposity will be measured using DEXA.	After delivery, neonatal adiposity will be measured using DEXA. This part of the protocol takes place 4-5 months after recruitment.	No
Secondary	cord blood insulin (corrected by cord blood glucose)		At delivery (in the OR): 4-5 months after recruitment	No
Secondary	cord blood triglycerides		At delivery (in the OR): 4-5 months after recruitment	No
Secondary	cord blood leptin		At delivery (in the OR): 4-5 months after recruitment	No
Secondary	anthropometric measurements on the newborn	birth weight, arm, thigh, and abdominal circumference, subscapular skinfolds	After delivery (4-5 months after recruitement)	No
Secondary	fetal fractional thigh volume obtained by fetal ultrasound	The fetal fractional thigh volume will me measured in addition to routine fetal measurements at 32 weeks estimated gestation age. This measurement is a measure of neonatal adiposity.	At 32 weeks gestation (4 months after recruitment)	No
Secondary	cord blood uric acid		At delivery (in the OR): 4-5 months after recruitment	No