Company Profile
Center for Nutrition and Pregancy, North Dakota State University
Company Overview
Established by the North Dakota Board of Higher Education in 2002, the overall goal of the Center for Nutrition and Pregnancy is to increase the proportion of healthy, productive offspring by ensuring an optimal maternal environment during pregnancy and lactation. This research area is extremely important because of its tremendous potential socioeconomic impact. See: https://www.ndsu.edu/cnp/
Company History
Established by the North Dakota Board of Higher Education in 2002, the overall goal of the Center for Nutrition and Pregnancy (CNP) is to increase the proportion of healthy, productive offspring by ensuring an optimal maternal environment during pregnancy and lactation.
In humans, pregnancy complications have been estimated to affect from 1 in 10 to as many as 1 in 2 pregnancies.1-4 Such complications include: placental complications (e.g., placenta previa, hypertension of pregnancy [also called preeclampsia]), spontaneous abortion [miscarriage], gestational diabetes, intrauterine growth restriction [IUGR], and preterm birth. Similarly, pregnancy complications probably affect all mammals, including livestock.5-8
Various factors that affect fetal and postnatal development, such as poor maternal nutrition, are major contributors to postnatal mortality in mammals, including livestock and humans. In U.S. livestock, for example, the rate of postnatal mortality is 5 to 10%.5 In humans, the U.S. also suffers a high incidence of preterm birth and low birth weight, major risk factors for infant mortality.9-11
In both humans and livestock, most postnatal mortality occurs in the first 7 days after birth, implying a problem with fetal development or the birth process, or both. Moreover, in both humans and livestock, growth restricted offspring per se may be at risk not only of immediatepostnatal complications but also may be ‘programmed’ to develop a host of problems later in life (including so-called “non-communicable diseases”), a concept known as ‘Developmental Programming.’ In humans, Developmental Programming may perpetuate health and social problems over generations, whereas in livestock it affects meat, milk and fiber production and hence economic returns.5-8,12-16
Since its inception in December 2002, the CNP has become one of the world’s premiere centers addressing the impact not only of maternal nutrition but also various other factors (e.g., maternal age, multiples) on fertility (the ability to conceive and maintain a preg-nancy), fetal and placental growth and development, premature birth, and postnatal outcomes including life-long health and productivity (i.e., Developmental Programming).
Researchers in the CNP represent a wide range of disciplines, from Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to Developmental Biology, Embryology, Genetics/Genomics, Microbiology/Microbiome, Nutrition, Pharmacology, and Physiology. An important focus of these efforts is on development of various therapeutic and nutritional strategies designed to ‘rescue’ fetal growth and development that has been compromised by poor maternal nutrition or other factors.
Faculty, students and collaborators involved in the CNP have published more than 220 peer-reviewed articles in international journals (Web of Science), organized and spoken at numerous international symposia, sat on a plethora of Federal grant review panels, hosted many visiting researchers, and supervised many graduate and undergraduate student researchers.
References Cited
1. Complications of Pregnancy. Johns Hopkins Medicine, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/staying-healthy-during-pregnancy/complications-of-pregnancy (accessed 04 May 2023).
2. Pregnancy Complications. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pregnancy-complications.html (accessed 04 May 2023).
3. Law A et al. The prevalence of complications and healthcare costs during pregnancy. J Med Econ 2015; 18(7): 533-41. https://doi.org/10.3111/13696998.2015.1016229.
4. Hinkle et al. Pregnancy complications and long-term mortality in a diverse cohort. Circulation 2023; 147: 1014-25. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.122.062177.
5. Wu, G., F. W. Bazer, J. M. Wallace, and T. E. Spencer. 2006. BOARD-INVITED REVIEW: Intrauterine growth retardation: Implications for the animal sciences. J. Anim. Sci. 84:2316–2337.
6. Caton, JS and BW Hess. 2010. Maternal plane of nutrition: Impacts on fetal outcomes and postnatal offspring responses. Invited Review. Pp. 104-122 in Proc. 4th Grazing Livestock Nutr. Conf.
7. Reynolds LP, Borowicz PP, Caton JS, Vonnahme KA, JS. Luther, CJ Hammer, KR Maddock Carlin, Grazul-Bilska AT and Redmer DA. Developmental programming: The concept, large animal models, and the key role of utero-placental vascular development. J Anim Sci 2010b; 88: E61-E72.
8. Caton JS, Crouse MS, McLean KJ, Dahlen CR, Ward AK, Cushman RA, Grazul-Bilska AT, Neville BW, Borowicz PP, Reynolds LP. Maternal periconceptual nutrition, early pregnancy, and developmental outcomes in beef cattle. J Anim Sci 2020; In press. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaa358.
9. MacDorman MF, Mathews TJ. 2009. Behind international rankings of infant mortality: How the United States compares with Europe. NCHS Data Brief, CDC.
10. March of Dimes, 2009, What’s New: U.S. gets a “D” for preterm birth rate.
11. WHO, 2005, Feto-maternal nutrition and low birth weight.
12. Barker DJP, Gluckman PD, Godfrey KM, Harding JE, Owens JA, Robinson JS. Fetal nutrition and cardiovascular disease in adult life. Lancet 1993: 341: 938-942.
13. Bell AW. 1992. Foetal growth and its influence on postnatal growth and development. In: The Control of Fat and Lean Deposition. Oxford: Buttwerworth-Heinemann, pp 111-127.
14. B. W. Hess, T. Delcurto, J. G. P. Bowman, and R. C. Waterman eds. West Sect. Am. Soc. Anim. Sci., Champaign, IL.
15. Godfrey KM, Barker DJ. Fetal nutrition and adult disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 71(5 Suppl): 1344S-52S.
16. Hack M, Klein NK and Taylor HG Long-term developmental outcomes of low birth weight infants. Future Child 1995; 5: 176-196.