The proposed research will fill a public health need by providing information about the roles inflammation and dietary interventions play in associations of maternal paraben concentrations with shorter gestation. Specifically, this study proposes to investigate the maternal inflammatory pathways linking parabens with shorter gestation, as well as the potential intervening effect of a maternal anti-inflammatory diet on shorter gestation in response to parabens. The central hypothesis is that higher paraben concentrations are associated with shorter gestation due to elevated maternal inflammation and that an anti-inflammatory maternal diet mitigates these relationships. The proposed study will test this central hypothesis in 482 pregnant women enrolled in the Illinois Kids Development Study (I-KIDS), which is an ongoing prospective pregnancy and birth cohort with the primary goal of evaluating the impacts of prenatal chemical exposures on infant neurodevelopment. The feasibility of testing these hypotheses has been determined by conducting several preliminary studies in a sub-sample of 294 I-KIDS women. Overall, findings from this study will inform future research and clinical practice about the biological targets of parabens during pregnancy and guide prenatal healthcare professionals to make effective dietary recommendations to their pregnant patients.
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