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Prenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsNCT06296238

Nutrition and Inflammation in Pregnancy: Impacts on Early Human Brain Development in Ethiopia

An observational study of Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, run by Brown University at 1 site in Ethiopia.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The goal of this observational child follow-up study is to examine the effects of prenatal nutrition and infection management interventions on long-term child neurodevelopment. Participants are the offspring of mothers in the main study entitled "Enhancing Nutrition and Antenatal Infection Treatment (ENAT)" that was… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 9 to 27 monthsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Type of treatment
Pill or oral medicine
How many people
463 participants
Where
1 siteEthiopia
Study dates
15 Feb 2023to 1 Jul 2024
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 9 to 27 months
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child

Study population: The participants of this study will be recruited from 6 rural health centers (serving a ~25,000 population) involved in ENAT study in West Gojjam and South Gondar zones, Amhara, Ethiopia (Lee et al., 2022). In this infant follow-up study, up to 500 selected infants from the parent ENAT study will be followed for 24 months for general health, growth, and development. A subset of these infants (up to 480) whose mothers provided biospecimens or whose mothers had mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of <23 cm in the parent study will be recruited for an advanced neurodevelopmental assessment study.

Who may be able to join

  • Mothers who have participated in ENAT study who consent to participate in the infant follow up study
  • Intention to stay in the study catchment area
  • Healthy infants without severe clinical signs or symptoms including headache, vomiting, or dizziness

Who cannot join

  • Major congenital anomalies
  • Infants with severe morbidity or developmental disorder
  • Neonatal encephalopathy
  • Plan to move out of study catchment area

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Ethiopia1 site
  • Health Centers in West Gojjam and South Gondar zones

    Bahir Dar, Amhara

Other trials in Ethiopia

About this study

The goal of this observational child follow-up study is to examine the effects of prenatal nutrition and infection management interventions on long-term child neurodevelopment.

Participants are the offspring of mothers in the main study entitled "Enhancing Nutrition and Antenatal Infection Treatment (ENAT)" that was conducted in the rural Amhara region of Ethiopia. In the ENAT pragmatic clinical effectiveness study, 2399 pregnant women were randomized to receive routine prenatal care, a package of enhanced nutrition interventions (balanced energy protein supplement, iodized salt, iron-folic acid and counseling), a package of enhanced infection management interventions (genitourinary tract infection screening-treatment, deworming), or a combination of both packages. The impact of these antenatal nutrition and infection interventions on birth outcomes (infant birth size and gestational length) was examined in the main study. In this longitudinal cohort study, we will follow the offspring from the ENAT pregnancy cohort up to 24 months postnatal age and assess their growth, health and neurodevelopment.

Read more

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. What are the effects of pregnancy interventions from the parent study (ENAT) on offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes?
  2. What are the associations between maternal-newborn iron status and inflammation on infant neurodevelopment?
  3. What are the associations between maternal iodine status and thyroid function on infant neurodevelopment?

We will follow children of mothers from the parent ENAT study to monitor their growth, health, and neurodevelopment up to 24 months postnatal age.

Read the detailed description

In low-resource settings, undernutrition and infections during the first 1000 days of life are prevalent, modifiable risk factors that may have lifelong effects on a child's cognitive and psychological development, yet effective interventions addressing prevailing mechanisms are still to be validated. Iron, protein and energy are critical nutrients that support the rapidly developing fetal brain, however, among women of reproductive age in Sub-Saharan Africa, 10% are underweight and 20% have iron deficiency anemia. Pregnancy infections are also common in Africa, where one in three women have a geo-helminthic infection resulting in blood loss, iron deficiency and inflammation. The interaction between iron and inflammation in pregnancy is particularly complex. NICHD has identified the complex relationship between nutrition, inflammation, and neurodevelopment as a major research gap. A barrier to progress is that mechanistic understanding of prenatal brain development is based on animal or observational studies. We present a unique opportunity to leverage an ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the consequences of pregnancy nutrition and inflammation on child neurodevelopment.

The Enhancing Nutrition and Antenatal Infection Treatment (ENAT) RCT enrolled pregnant women in Amhara, Ethiopia to study independent and overlapping effects of prenatal nutrition and infection interventions on birth outcomes. Women were randomized to receive: 1) standard prenatal care, 2) enhanced nutrition package (ENP) (counseling, iron-folic acid [IFA], iodized salt, and balanced energy protein [BEP] supplementation), 3) enhanced infection management package (EIMP) (anti-helminthics, urinary tract infection treatment), or 4) ENP+EIMP. The current follow-up study (Longitudinal Infant Development and Growth; LIDG) will investigate biological pathways by which ENAT interventions, specifically iron, protein-energy, and inflammation, influence child neurodevelopment.

Our overarching hypotheses are that improving prenatal nutrition will improve brain structural and network development, reducing inflammation will improve white matter maturation, and the combination will have synergistic effects on child neuro-cognitive outcomes. This study will follow up to 500 ENAT children to assess neurodevelopment through 24 months of age, including neurobehavior and neural networks.

Medical subject headings
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

Study groups in NCT06296238
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Enhanced Nutrition Package (ENP) health center + Enhanced Infection Management Package (EIMP)ENP: Health centers were strengthened to provide WHO/FMOH-recommended nutrition interventions in pregnancy. Pregnant women received a supply of adequately iodized salt for household use and iron-folate tablets from enrollment to birth. Women with undernutrition (MUAC <23 cm), also received a daily balanced energy protein supplement. EIMP: Pregnant women were screened at enrollment for bacteriuria with urine culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing and presumptive deworming with mebendazole 500mg. Some women also received screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea and symptomatic women were tested for bacterial vaginosis and trichomonas. For women with chlamydia or gonorrhea, the participant was treated per FMOH guidelines with recommended antibiotics. STI/RTI screening was eventually discontinued due to supply shortage and the low prevalence of STI. At ANC follow-up visits, infected women were treated with antibiotics and persistent infection was retreated.
ENP health center, routine care infection management participantENP: The health centers were strengthened to provide WHO/FMOH-recommended nutrition interventions in pregnancy. Pregnant women received a supply of adequately iodized salt for household use and iron-folate tablets from enrollment to birth. Women with undernutrition (MUAC <23 cm), also received a daily balanced energy protein supplement. Standard infection care: Maternal genitourinary tract infections is managed as per standard FMOH health center guidelines that utilize a syndromic management approach.
Routine nutrition care health center, EIMP participantRoutine nutrition care: Maternal nutrition was managed as per standard FMOH health center guidelines. EIMP: Pregnant women were screened at enrollment for bacteriuria with urine culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing and presumptive deworming with mebendazole 500mg. Some women also received screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea and symptomatic women were tested for bacterial vaginosis and trichomonas. For women with chlamydia or gonorrhea, the participant (and partner) was treated per FMOH guidelines with recommended antibiotics. STI/RTI screening was eventually discontinued due to supply shortage and the low prevalence of STI. At ANC follow-up visits, infected women were treated with antibiotics and persistent infection was retreated.
Routine of care nutrition and infection managementPregnant women received routine strengthened antenatal care services at the health center per FMOH guidelines. Maternal genitourinary tract infections were managed as per standard FMOH health center guidelines that utilize a syndromic management approach.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Child resting brain function

    Measured by absolute power of alpha frequency band on mobile electroencephalography

    Measured: 24 months

Secondary outcomes (12)
  1. Child resting brain function, secondary measures

    Absolute power of theta band (3-5 Hz) as measured on mobile EEG

    Measured: 24 months

  2. Neural processing speed

    VEP P1 peak latency (ms)

    Measured: 24 months

  3. Visual Attention

    Measured with infant eye tracking during Cecile Attention Task

    Measured: 12 months

  4. Nonverbal Visual Attention

    Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol

    Measured: 12 months

  5. Infant Neurologic Maturity

    Hammersmith Infant Neurological Exam (HINE) Total Score

    Measured: 12 months

  6. Child Cognitive Function

    Bayley-III Cognitive Scale

    Measured: 24 months

  7. Child size

    Length for age Z score [standard deviations from the median for age and sex, range: -5 (worse) to +5 (better)]

    Measured: 24 months

  8. Child Size

    Weight for age z score [standard deviations from the median for age and sex, range: -5 (worse) to +5 (better)]

    Measured: 24 months

  9. Child Size

    Head circumference for age z score [standard deviations from the median for age and sex, range: -5 (worse) to +5 (better)]

    Measured: 24 months

  10. Child Size

    Body mass index

    Measured: 24 months

  11. Brain Structure

    Total brain volume (cm3); regional volumes measure by hyperfine low field MRI

    Measured: 12 months

  12. Child Morbidity

    Fever, diarrhea, hospitalization

    Measured: 12 and 24 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted6 Mar 2024
  2. Study start15 Feb 2023
  3. Primary completion1 Jul 2024
  4. Study completion1 Jul 2024

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
463 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT06296238
Sponsor's protocol ID
2023P000461
Status last verified
Mar 2025
First submitted
29 Feb 2024
Last updated
23 Jun 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No

Publications

  • Roy Paladhi U, Workneh F, Baye E, Derebe MM, Yibeltal K, Fasil N, Driker S, Van Dyk F, I Chin T, North K, Jensen SKG, Christian P, Worku A, Berhane Y, Lee AC. Investigating biological mechanisms of adverse birth outcomes and early child development in Amhara, Ethiopia: protocol of biospecimen collection and analysis of the Enhancing Nutrition and Antenatal Infection Treatment (ENAT) randomised effectiveness study. BMJ Open. 2025 Apr 28;15(4):e098686. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-098686.

    PubMed 40295129
  • Workneh F, Chin TI, Yibeltal K, Fasil N, North K, Jensen SKG, Kidane WT, Melese M, Tsegaye S, Berhane YY, Roy Paladhi U, Abate BH, Teklehaimanot A, Melka TL, Pihl S, An WW, Van Dyk F, Mullany LC, Folger LV, Cherkerzian S, Troller-Renfree SV, Thomason ME, Andersson M, Inder T, Nelson CA, Grant PE, Christian P, Worku A, Berhane Y, Lee AC. Impact of maternal antenatal nutrition and infection treatment interventions on Longitudinal Infant Development and Growth in rural Ethiopia: protocol of the LIDG child follow-up study. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2024 Dec 24;8(1):e002840. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-002840.

    PubMed 39725450

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, run by Brown University at 1 site in Ethiopia.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 23 Jun 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Ethiopia. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Child resting brain function (time frame: 24 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06296238, which also lists 2 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 23 Jun 2026.

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