# Using Systems Immunology to Get at the Nature of Mood Disorders in HIV

> **NIH NIH R21** · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $201,250

## Abstract

Project Abstract
The proposal in this application will utilize systems biology approaches to get at the underlying pathogenesis of
mood disorders including major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), MDD combined with
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in people with HIV (PWH) virologically-suppressed on antiretroviral therapy
(ART). The overreaching goals are 1) to identify both common and mood disorder-specific gene expression
signatures in PWH on ART that correlate with the presence and severity of symptoms according to
computerized adaptive testing for mental health using comparative whole blood transcriptomic analysis while
carefully considering concurrent GAD, and/or prior childhood trauma; 2) to validate and mechanistically dissect
transcriptomic and metabolomic signatures of MDD, BD, and MDD with GAD in PWH on ART utilizing targeted
flow cytometry and metabolomics to validate differentially enriched genes and pathways; and 3) importantly, to
find therapeutics that could potentially reverse dysregulated pathways by applying a novel algorithm, drug
perturbation gene set enrichment analysis, to identify phenotypically-relevant, FDA-approved and
repurposeable therapeutics as potential novel treatment options for PWH with mood disorders. To complete
the experiments and answer these complex questions, an expert team has been assembled with the plan to
recruit a cohort of PWH virologically suppressed on ART in five groups: 1) MDD, 2) BD, 3) MDD and GAD, 4)
GAD, and 5) no mental health diagnoses. This cohort will be followed for 24 weeks and data will be collected
for transcriptomic, metabolomic and flow cytometric responses to the presence and severity of mood disorder
symptoms.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10486137
- **Project number:** 5R21MH128865-02
- **Recipient organization:** CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** CHERYL M CAMERON
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $201,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-13 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10486137

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10486137, Using Systems Immunology to Get at the Nature of Mood Disorders in HIV (5R21MH128865-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10486137. Licensed CC0.

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