Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) awarded a $330,065 Project Grant to the University of Colorado-Denver on July 10, 2026, under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) to conduct a five-year research study examining the dietary reversal of reproductive endocrine dysfunction in women with obesity. The project, which runs through June 30, 2031, will investigate whether a low-fat, eucaloric diet (22% calories from fat) can improve key hormonal abnormalities—specifically reduced luteal progesterone production and diminished pituitary response to gonadotropin-releasing hormone—collectively termed the reprometabolic syndrome. The research addresses a significant clinical gap, as behavioral weight loss interventions have proven unsuccessful in improving fertility outcomes or reducing pregnancy complications in obese women.

The study will employ two complementary research approaches: Aim 1 involves monitoring daily urinary levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estrone conjugates, and pregnanediol glucuronide across four consecutive menstrual cycles in 30 women with a body mass index of 30 kg/m² or greater before and after the dietary intervention; Aim 2 will assess baseline LH and FSH secretion and response to a physiologic gonadotropin-releasing hormone bolus through frequent blood sampling in 24 women in the cycle preceding and immediately following the low-fat diet intervention. The research is positioned to generate endocrinological evidence supporting dietary approaches to optimize reproductive health in obese women preparing for pregnancy.