Metabolic profile and dietary patterns during early life and risk of inflammatory bowel disease

Diet plays a key role in modulating the intestinal microbiota, thereby impacting the regulation of intestinal inflammation. The Western diet has been linked to non-communicable diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, and its role in inflammatory disorders is subject to increasing attention. It is of interest to understand, how maternal nutrition directly impacts fetal development and, together with the child’s own nutrition, influences the later susceptibility to immune mediated diseases. This ambitious project will assess how maternal exposures and dietary patterns during pregnancy combined with early life exposures at birth influence the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in offspring.