Keenan Greyslak at the University of Oklahoma has received a National Institutes of Health grant to study how high-fat and sugar diets during pregnancy may predispose children to early liver conditions such as MASLD, potentially leading to serious health issues.
University of Oklahoma researcher Keenan Greyslak has won a National Institutes of Health grant to examine whether a mother’s diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding can shape a child’s later risk of metabolic disease. The project centres on how diets high in fat and sugar may affect the earliest stages of development and set the course for liver problems later in life.
Greyslak, a postdoctoral fellow at the OU College of Medicine, is working under Jed Friedman, who leads the diabetes centre on the OU Health campus. The NIH F32 award is intended to help support early-career scientists as they move towards independent research, and Greyslak will use it to study metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD, a condition in which excess fat builds up in the liver. Medical groups including the Mayo Clinic and the American Liver Foundation say the condition was formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and is increasingly recognised in children, particularly those with obesity.
Friedman said MASLD has long been thought of as an adult illness, but it is now being diagnosed far earlier than before. Clinical reviews cited by the American Gastroenterological Association and other medical sources suggest it can affect a substantial share of children with obesity and may be linked to early fibrosis, or scarring of the liver, as well as later metabolic problems such as type 2 diabetes. In serious cases, the disease can progress to a more advanced form called MASH, which can cause lasting liver damage, cancer or the need for transplantation.
Greyslak’s work focuses on mitochondria, the cell structures that generate energy and can also influence immune activity. Using mice fed an American-style diet before and during pregnancy and lactation, he will examine whether changes in mitochondrial function leave macrophages, the immune cells that help repair tissue and fight infection, stuck in a more inflammatory state. He is also working with OU Health doctors treating children as young as 8 or 9 with MASLD, including some with signs of liver scarring, in an effort to connect laboratory findings with what clinicians are seeing in young patients. Greyslak said the goal is to identify targets for treatment before those changes become permanent.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
