Ashley Knowell and Shanora Brown
South Carolina State University, USA
Title: Analyzing the role of high pro-inflammatory diets and childhood obesity in the risk of adult carcinogenesis in South Carolinian children
Biography
Biography: Ashley Knowell and Shanora Brown
Abstract
In the United States, childhood obesity has been a growing epidemic with, 1/3 of US children considered overweight or obese. This increased number can be linked to several factors including nutrition and social economic status. Households that do not have access to healthy, nutritious foods are significantly more likely to be obese earlier in life. Obesity in children can lead to numerous health complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic inflammation and carcinogenesis. African American is more likely to be diagnosed and die from some forms of cancer. Therefore, eliminating or reducing preventable risk factors such as unhealthy nutrition and childhood obesity could have important implications for reducing clinical manifestations of adult cancer outcomes. Areas of South Carolina, such as the I-95 Corridor, have a long history of being under-developed which contribute to numerous problems such as obesity, poverty and sub-par health care. We have enrolled SC children from varying degrees of rurality to determine if obesity and/or high-fat pro-inflammatory diets contribute to increased levels of pro-inflammatory markers and obesity related genes to include: Adiponectin, leptin, SAA1 /2, Interleukin 1 and 6. Subjects will be randomized into obese and non-obese groups based on BMI guidelines. The transcriptional levels of pro-inflammatory genes will be measured by quantitative RT-PCR. Reducing childhood obesity and pro-inflammatory diets are beneficial in the reduction of cancer risk and will serve as preventive measures for early-stage onset of adult cancers. Data analysis on the limited sample set is ongoing. Results will be presented during the conference.
