# Integrating genomics and metabolomics data to identify molecular characteristics of Gulf War Veterans' illnesses

> **NIH VA I01** · DURHAM VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic, debilitating illness suffered by Veterans of the first Gulf War. Patients
suffering from GWI are often subject to years of medical uncertainty as they make their way through multiple
clinics to try to diagnose and ultimately treat their chronic symptoms, if possible. Complicating this medical
journey is the absence of biomarkers that can be used to diagnose the conditions and that might provide clues
as to treatments and etiology. A recent review of the evidence for biomarkers in GWI concluded that there
were no validated biomarkers for GWI. The lack of biomarkers is accompanied by a lack of treatments
demonstrated to work in a large number of Veterans. Epidemiologic studies have been successful in identifying
associations with exposures common to serving in the Gulf War through development of large cohorts of Gulf
War Veterans. Biomarker studies in small numbers of Gulf War Veterans have identified biomarkers for testing.
Among the most fruitful of these are studies of metabolomics, the analysis of all small molecules in blood or
tissue measured by specialized instruments capable of detecting very small quantities of metabolites and then
comparing them to known compounds. We will test a comprehensive set of metabolites assayed by the
Metabolon metabolomics platform covering over 60 metabolic pathways in over 1000 Veterans in the Gulf War
Era Cohort and Biorepository (GWECB), collected and made available to researchers by the VA Office of
Research and Development Gulf War Program. The metabolomics dataset will join data from other assays in
GWECB designed to interrogate other biological systems. Genome-wide genotyping tests how up to 1 million
genetic variants across the genome contribute to differences in Veterans with Gulf War Illness versus those
without. Likewise, genome-wide epigenetic assays test how up to 800,000 DNA modifications contribute
different levels of activity of genes across the genome. Putting these three modern biomedical technologies
together provides a comprehensive view of physiological differences in individuals. In combining these data
we hope to identify biological pathways that distinguish GWI Veterans and suggest treatments and biomarkers.
We also will analyze these combined datasets to test whether smaller clusters of symptoms that make up GWI
can identify specific subtypes of GWI related to the pathways we find. These data will be returned to the
GWECB data repository so that it can be made available to the Gulf War research community for additional
research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10765603
- **Project number:** 5I01BX005902-02
- **Recipient organization:** DURHAM VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth R Hauser
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-01-01 → 2026-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10765603

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10765603, Integrating genomics and metabolomics data to identify molecular characteristics of Gulf War Veterans' illnesses (5I01BX005902-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10765603. Licensed CC0.

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