Identifying interconnections of the disparities in childhood obesity - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: Childhood obesity is a major public health concern that increases the risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic conditions. Oxidative stress, characterized by excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), contributes to obesity-associated cellular injury, inflammation, and metabolic dysfunction. ROS-mediated oxidation of lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids can generate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are released from the body and detected in urine. Although children with obesity may exhibit elevated oxidative stress and distinct urinary VOC profiles, there is significant gap in the research directly examining the association among obesity status, oxidative stress, inflammation, and urinary VOC metabolites. The overall objective of this study is to determine the association among childhood obesity, urinary oxidative stress biomarkers, inflammatory biomarkers, and VOC metabolites and to establish whether oxidative stress directly promotes VOC production. We plan to accomplish the objective of this application by pursuing the following specific aims. (1) Determine the associations among childhood obesity, urinary oxidative stress biomarkers, inflammatory biomarkers, and VOC metabolites. (2) Determine if oxidative stress induces the release of VOC metabolites. This research will fundamentally advance our understanding of biological relationships among childhood obesity, oxidative stress, inflammation, and urinary VOC metabolites. The proposed work may identify noninvasive metabolic biomarkers of early obesity-associated oxidative stress and establish experimental evidence that oxidative stress contributes directly to VOC generation. These findings will provide a foundation for future studies of urinary VOCs as indicators of childhood metabolic dysfunction and cardiometabolic risk. The project will also provide undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on training in biomarker analysis, cell culture, mass spectrometry, biostatistics, and interdisciplinary biomedical research, thereby preparing them for careers in health-related research.
