# Epigenomic Predictors of PTSD and Traumatic Stress in an African American Cohort

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA · 2020 · $597,221

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and debilitating mental disorder that has a profound public
health impact and for which the disease burden falls disproportionately on African Americans (AAs). Socially
adverse experiences of discrimination and isolation, stressful life events, and low socioeconomic position
(SEP) have a profound impact on mental and physical health, with AAs being more likely to encounter many of
these exposures; yet how these exposures become translated into ill health, in particular poor mental health, is
unclear. To address this gap in knowledge, this application seeks to determine whether social adversity
among AA residents of Detroit impacts glucocorticoid receptor regulatory network (GRRN) DNA methylation to
lay the foundation for future risk of psychopathology. Exposure to stressful and traumatic events produces a
physiologic cascade that includes epigenetic modification of genes whose activity contributes to
psychopathological development. In particular, stress hormones (e.g. glucocorticoids) and genomic factors
associated with them have been strongly linked to etiology of PTSD and other stress-related mental disorder. It
remains unknown to what extent socially adverse exposures such as low SEP, discrimination, loneliness, and
stressful life events impact DNA methylation in genes belonging to this pathway. We hypothesize that DNA
methylation of GRRN genes in leukocytes is associated with prospective risk of PTSD and traumatic stress in
Detroit-dwelling AAs, due to their role in the physiology of stress in both central and peripheral tissues. We
further hypothesize that exposure to socioeconomic and psychosocial stressors impact DNA methylation
variation in GRRN genes, laying the foundation for vulnerability to psychopathology, including post-traumatic
stress symptom severity, depression symptom severity, and generalized anxiety symptom severity. This
proposal brings together a strong investigative team with extensive expertise in social epidemiology,
epigenetics, PTSD, and AA health. Our team will leverage data from a comprehensive, population based
cohort study of mental health in AAs, the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (DNHS). Results will be replicated
using data from two independent cohorts, the Grady Trauma Project and the Predictive Biomarkers of PTSD
Project. In addition, in vitro cell culture experiments will be leveraged to test GRRN dysregulation in neuronal
cell lines, and will test the functional significance of GRRN DNA methylation variation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9930465
- **Project number:** 5R01MD011728-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Allison E Aiello
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $597,221
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-16 → 2021-09-17

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9930465

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9930465, Epigenomic Predictors of PTSD and Traumatic Stress in an African American Cohort (5R01MD011728-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9930465. Licensed CC0.

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