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Principal Investigator: Carmen Giurgescu
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $655,741
Funding agency: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Preterm birth (PTB; <37 weeks gestation) is the leading cause of infant mortality among Black infants.
Maternal chronological age has long been used to assess risk for PTB; however, chronological age
assumes that individuals age at similar rates and does not capture the inter-individual differences that
may exist due to race. Although both Black and White women have a maternal age-related increase in
PTB, the risk for PTB is higher among Black women than among White women at all maternal ages.
Geronimus’ weathering hypothesis describes a pattern in which age-related increases in PTB occur at
a younger age for Black women, and risk with age increases in a linear pattern, rather than the J-
shaped association with chronological age overall. This acceleration of aging has been attributed to
Black women being more likely to experience chronic stress due to social stressors of racial
discrimination and neighborhood disorder and crime. Epigenetic age, a measure of cellular or
biological aging, reflects influences of past exposures and may be more useful in determining risk for
PTB than chronological age, which is uniform regardless of life experiences. However, research is
lacking on (1) the association of social stressors with epigenetic aging among Black pregnant women;
and (2) the association of epigenetic aging with PTB among these women. This study is designed to
address the gaps in prior research and relies on our previous work demonstrating that ribosomal DNA
methylation (rDNAm) harbors the rDNA clock, a novel, sensitive, and evolutionarily conserved clock of
epigenetic aging. The goal of this study is to examine epigenetic aging as a marker of social stressors
and a biomarker indicating risk of PTB among Black women. Our cohort is comprised of 550 Black
pregnant women enrolled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic from the Detroit, MI and Columbus, OH
areas (R01 MD011575, PI Giurgescu). Women completed questionnaires and provided whole blood
samples and saliva during pregnancy, and these biological samples will be used to complete the
proposed study. Maternal medical records have been abstracted. We aim to: (Aim 1) Determine
whether social stressors are associated with an accelerated rDNAm clock among Black pregnant
women; (Aim 2) Determine whether women with PTB have an accelerated rDNAm clock compared
with women with term birth; and (Aim 3) Assess performance of the rDNAm clock associated with PTB
relative to alternative metrics of epigenetic aging. Epigenetic age, a biological reflection of inter-
individual variability in aging, holds significant potential as a useful parameter in PTB prevention from a
precision health perspective. Currently, the ability to predict PTB is poor, especially among Black
women. Precision health has the potential to identify individual women who are at risk for PTB, and to
identify therapeutic targets to prevent an individual from having PTB.
Terms: <37 weeks completed gestation><37 weeks gestation><Acceleration><Address><Age><Age Years><Aging><Area><BS-seq><Biological><Biological Aging><Biological Markers><Birth><Bisulfite-based sequencing><Black><Black Populations><Black group><Black individual><Black people><Black race><Blacks><Blood><Blood Reticuloendothelial System><Blood Sample><Blood specimen><COVID crisis><COVID epidemic><COVID pandemic><COVID-19 crisis><COVID-19 epidemic><COVID-19 era><COVID-19 global health crisis><COVID-19 global pandemic><COVID-19 health crisis><COVID-19 pandemic><COVID-19 period><COVID-19 public health crisis><COVID-19 years><Caucasian Females><Caucasian Women><Cell Aging><Cell Senescence><Cellular Aging><Cellular Senescence><Chronic stress><Chronologic Fetal Maturity><Chronology><Coupled><Crime><DNA><DNA Methylation><Data><Deoxyribonucleic Acid><Disease><Disorder><Enrollment><Epigenetic age><Fetal Age><Fullterm Birth><Genetic><Gestation><Gestational Age><Goals><GrimAge clock><Hannum clock><Horvath clock><Individual><Individual Differences><Infant><Infant Mortality><Infant Mortality Total><Length><Life Experience><Maternal Age><Measures><Medical Records><Methylation><Neighborhoods><Non-Hispanic><Nonhispanic><Not Hispanic or Latino><Participant><Parturition><Pattern><Performance><PhenoAge clocks><Precision Health><Pregnancy><Pregnant Women><Premature Birth><Prematurely delivering><Preterm Birth><Prevention><Publishing><Questionnaires><Race><Races><Replicative Senescence><Reporting><Research><Ribosomal DNA><Ribosomes><Risk><Risk Assessment><Risk Factors><SARS-CoV-2 epidemic><SARS-CoV-2 global health crisis><SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic><SARS-CoV-2 pandemic><SARS-coronavirus-2 epidemic><SARS-coronavirus-2 pandemic><Saliva><Sampling><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 epidemic><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 pandemic><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 epidemic><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic><Shapes><Term Birth><White Females><White Women><Whole Blood><Woman><Work><accelerated aging><accelerated biological age><accelerated biological aging><accelerated epigenetic age><accelerated epigenetic aging><accelerated pace of epigenetic aging><acceleration in epigenetic age><age acceleration><age associated><age at pregnancy><age correlated><age dependent><age linked><age related><age specific><ages><aging induced epigenetic change><aging-associated epigenetic change><aging-related epigenetic change><bio-markers><biologic><biologic marker><biological process of age><biomarker><bisulfite sequencing><bisulfite-seq><black female><black male><black men><black women><case control><case-controlled><cohort><community level disadvantage><coronavirus disease 2019 crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic><coronavirus disease 2019 global health crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 global pandemic><coronavirus disease 2019 health crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic><coronavirus disease 2019 public health crisis><coronavirus disease crisis><coronavirus disease epidemic><coronavirus disease pandemic><coronavirus disease-19 global pandemic><coronavirus disease-19 pandemic><death among infants><death in first year of life><death in infancy><death in infants><design><designing><disadvantaged community><discrimination based on race><discrimination due to race><driving force><enroll><epigenetic age clocks><epigenetic aging><epigenetic clock><epigenetic mechanisms in aging><epigenetic modifications in aging><epigenetic molecular clocks><epigenetic regulation of aging><expectant mother><expecting mother><experience><faster epigenetic aging><faster rates of epigenetic aging><full-term birth><fullterm newborn><high risk><increased epigenetic age><increased epigenetic aging><increased rates of epigenetic aging><infant death><infant demise><infantile death><inter-individual variability><inter-individual variation><interindividual variability><interindividual variation><methylation clock><metropolitan><mortality in infants><neighborhood barrier><neighborhood disadvantage><neighborhood-level barrier><neighborhood-level disadvantage><novel><pregnant mothers><premature childbirth><premature delivery><preterm delivery><prevent><preventing><rDNA><race discrimination><race-based discrimination><race-related discrimination><racial><racial background><racial discrimination><racial origin><racism><rapid epigenetic aging><severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global health crisis><severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global pandemic><social factors><social stresses><social stressor><systematic review><telomere><term newborn><therapeutic target>