# POLYGENIC PREDICTION OF PTSD TRAJECTORIES AND INFLAMMATION IN 9/11 RESPONDERS

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK · 2020 · $999,986

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Polygenic risk score for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD-PRS), an aggregate of individual genetic variants
associated with the disorder, can help identify vulnerable individuals and clarify biological mechanisms
underpinning PTSD, such as systemic inflammation. However, it remains unclear whether PTSD-PRS is
predictive of PTSD in civilians with occupational exposures (e.g. police officers), and whether it predicts the long-
term course of PTSD (e.g., resilient, chronic, worsening, and improving trajectories). Furthermore, the nature of
association between PTSD and inflammation remains poorly understood, and genetics can clarify the direction
of this link. Therefore, the proposed project aims to first test whether PTSD-PRS is associated with PTSD
diagnosis and 18-year symptom course following trauma exposure in responders to the World Trade Center
(WTC) attacks. Second, it aims to investigate the contribution of genetic vulnerability to the association between
PTSD and plasma levels of pro-inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP). To this end, a large sample of
responders to the WTC attacks (N=8,000, 90.2% male, 87.7% Caucasian, 67.0% in law enforcement, 19.9%
lifetime WTC-related PTSD diagnosis) from the Long Island WTC Health Program will be genotyped. The level
of disaster exposure and an extensive prospective psychiatric and medical history is available for this cohort
from electronic medical records collected since 2002. All blood samples are biobanked, further rendering the
proposed study highly cost effective and feasible. Blood will additionally be assayed for CRP levels concurrent
with the most recent PTSD assessment. The proposed study will inform the translation of cutting-edge genetic
tools to health research in an occupational cohort of police and non-traditional responders. Improved
understanding of PTSD genetics holds much promise for reducing burden of this disorder in occupational cohorts
by identifying people at risk who would benefit from more resilience training and frequent screenings. The study
will also provide insights into the association between PTSD and inflammation, elucidating etiologic pathways to
the disorder and informing treatment approaches.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9984884
- **Project number:** 5U01OH011864-02
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
- **Principal Investigator:** Roman I Kotov
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $999,986
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9984884

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9984884, POLYGENIC PREDICTION OF PTSD TRAJECTORIES AND INFLAMMATION IN 9/11 RESPONDERS (5U01OH011864-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9984884. Licensed CC0.

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