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Research Publications

The O’Brien Laboratory is working to understand the nutritional, endocrine, and genomic factors that interact to regulate calcium, vitamin D, and iron homeostasis. Our publications cover a wide range of topics, including the use of stable mineral isotopes as tracers in our studies. Learn more about our research and findings below.

Recent Publications

  1. Archundia-Herrera C, Nunes F, Barrios ID, Park CY, Bell RC, O’Brien KO. Development of a Database for the Estimation of Heme Iron and Non-Heme Iron Content of Animal-Based Foods. In Press 2024; Curr Dev Nutr

  2. O’Brien KO, Pressman EK. Reply to M Jefferds et al., Longitudinal Hemoglobin Data in U.S. Pregnant Women. Am J Clin Nutr 2024 119(1):234-235.

  3. Barad A, Guillet R, Pressman EK, Katzman PJ, Ganz T, Nemeth E, O’Brien KO. Placental Ferroportin Protein Abundance is Associated with Neonatal Erythropoietic Activity and Iron Status in Newborns at High Risk for Iron Deficiency and Anemia. Am J Clin Nutr 2024; 119(1):76-86.

  4. O’Brien K, Wang Y. The Placenta: A Maternofetal Interface. Annu Rev Nutr 2023; Aug 21:43:301-325. (PDF Link)

  5. Delaney KM, Barad A, Castillo L, Hasund CM, Guillet, R, Pressman EK, Katzman PF, Ganz T, Nemeth E, O’Brien KO. Placental erythroferrone and erythropoietin mRNA expression is not associated with maternal or neonatal iron status. J Nutr 2023; May 28:S0022-3166(23)72116-0. (PDF Link)

  6. Park CY, Lei X, O’Brien, KO. Why bioenhanced foods: role of food-based supplementation of bioactive micronutrients in public nutrition and health. Precision Nutrition, 2023; June 2(2), e00041. (PDF Link)

  7. Kang, W, Irvine, C, Wang Y, Clark A, Gu, Z, Pressman EK, O’Brien KO.  Hemoglobin Distributions and the Prevalence of Anemia in a Multiethnic US Pregnant Population. AJCN 2023; 117(6):1320-30. Published along with an editorial; Iron deficiency in Pregnancy: A health inequity. AJCN 2023; Jun; 117(6):1059-60. (PDF Link)

  8. Delaney KM, Cao Chang, Guillet R, Pressman EK, O’Brien KO. Fetal Iron Uptake from Recent Maternal Diet and Red Blood Cell Catabolism. Am J Clin Nutr 2022; 1;115(4):1069-79. Published along with an accompanying editorial; Fairweather-Tait. How much iron does a healthy pregnant woman require? AJCN 2022; 115(4):985-6. (PDF Link)

  9. O’Brien KO. Maternal, Fetal and Placental Regulation of Placental Iron Trafficking. Placenta  2022; 125:47-53. May 2022; Highlighted by Placenta as one of the most downloaded papers in the last 90 days. (PDF Link)

  10. Best CM, Sherwood R, Novotny JA, Zhang S, Pressman EK, O’Brien KO. Vitamin D3 kinetics in nonpregnant and pregnant women after a single oral dose of trideuterated vitamin D3. J Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2022; Feb 216:106034. doi.org/10.1016/jsbmb.2021.106034. (PDF Link)

  11. Barad A, Guillet R, Pressman EK, Katzman PJ, Miller RK, Darrah TH, O’Brien KO. Placental Iron Content is Lower than Previously Estimated and is Associated with Maternal Iron Status in Women at Greater Risk for Gestational Iron Deficiency and Anemia. J Nutr 2022; Mar 3: 152(3):737-746. (PDF Link)

  12. Delaney KM, Guillet R, Pressman EK, Ganz T, Nemeth E, O’Brien KO. Umbilical cord erythroferrone is inversely associated with hepcidin but does not capture the most variability in iron status of neonates born to teens carrying singletons and women carrying multiples. J Nutr 2021; 4:151(9):2590-2600.  Published along with an editorial: Kling PJ. Ironing out the details of maternal-fetal iron trafficking: New Tools in the Toolbox. J Nutr 2021; 151(9):2509-2510. (PDF Link)

  13. Kang W, Barad, A, Clark AG, Wang Y, Gu Z, O’Brien KO. Ethnic differences in iron status: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Adv Nutr Res 2021; Oct 1:12(5):1838-53. (PDF Link)

  14. Delaney KM, Guillet R, Pressman EK, Ganz T, Nemeth E, O’Brien KO. Serum erythroferrone during pregnancy is related to erythropoietin but does not predict the risk of anemia. J Nutr 2021; Jul 1; 151(7):1824-33. (PDF Link)

  15. Kang W, Baer N, Ramsan M, Vermeylen, F, Stoltzfus RJ, O’Brien, KO. Iron Supplementation in anemic Zanzibari toddlers is associated with greater loss in erythrocyte iron isotope enrichment. Am J Clin Nutr 2021; Jul 1;114(1):330-7. (PDF Link)

  16. Delaney KM, Guillet R, Pressman EK, Caulfield LE, Zavaleta N, O’Brien KO. Iron absorption during pregnancy is underestimated when iron utilization by the placenta and fetus is ignored. Am J Clin Nutr 2020; 112:576-585. (PDF Link)

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