# Proteomics of Hypertension and Alzheimer's Disease in African Americans

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $791,468

## Abstract

Project Summary
African Americans (AAs) are two to three times more likely to have Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related-
dementias than Non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs). AAs comprise 20 percent of AD sufferers to-date, while only
making up 13 percent of the US population. AAs with AD also have high incidences of vascular risk factors
including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes. The prevalence of hypertension for AAs in the US
is 47% and occurs at early adult ages. Hypertension is a major risk factor for AD and related-dementias especially
when present in mid-life. Because of this inherent relationship between hypertension and AD especially in AAs,
the question must be asked “What are the underlying biochemical pathways that link hypertension and AD in
AAs”? This proposal directly responds to the goal of PA-15-349 by “examining mediators of disparities in
Alzheimer's disease, using diverse cohorts of subjects”. Specially, we propose to examine biochemical markers
of hypertension, which is a mediator of racial disparities and increases AD risk in AAs. Based on preliminary
proteomics data in obtained our laboratory, our working hypothesis is that shared biological responses in immune
response and lipid metabolism pathways contribute to both high prevalence of hypertension and AD in AAs.
Alterations in both immune response and lipid metabolism pathways are well recognized as contributors to AD,
and also play roles in hypertension. We have assembled a stellar team of interdisciplinary experts in the areas
of Alzheimer's and vascular diseases and will study biospecimens from diverse cohorts of African American
participants that focus on hypertension, AD, or AD risk: BioVU, Rush ADC Clinical Core/MARS/ROSMAP,
Vanderbilt MAP, and Offspring. We will use advanced proteomic approaches to study plasma and postmortem
brain tissue from participants in these cohorts and complete two primary aims. Aim 1. Establishing the
molecular signature of hypertension in AAs and Aim 2. Establishing the molecular signature of AD in
AAs. Successfully identifying proteomics signatures will lead to a better understanding of AD pathogenesis and
the molecular architecture of hypertension, a major vascular risk factor for AD in AAs. This proposal is highly
innovative, ambitious, extremely urgent, and will provide critical information about disease biology in a population
that has been underrepresented throughout the current literature.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10002175
- **Project number:** 5R01AG064950-02
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Rena A. S. Robinson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $791,468
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10002175

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10002175, Proteomics of Hypertension and Alzheimer's Disease in African Americans (5R01AG064950-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10002175. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*