BLOOD PRESSURE REGULATION, STRESS AND MATERNAL OXYTOCIN RESPONSE

描述(由申请人提供)：本竞争性修订是对NOT-OD-10-032号通知的回应，通知标题为：NIH宣布通过NIH基本行为和社会科学机会网络(OppNet)为竞争性修订申请(R01、R03、R15、R21、R21/33和R37)提供恢复法案资金。该修订本具体涉及生物、行为和社会过程之间的相互作用这一主题下的表观遗传学/基因组领域。产后第一年对许多母亲来说压力很大，但催产素(OT)活性的增强可能会降低血压(BP)、交感神经系统(SNS)和下丘脑-垂体肾上腺(HPA)的活性和应激行为，同时增加母婴接触期间中枢奖赏通路的积极影响和激活。对于经济资源有限的年轻父母来说，增加一个孩子的家庭压力的一部分是额外的经济负担。在当前的金融危机期间，这种财政压力可能因父母中的一方或双方失业或收入减少而加剧。在家长R01拨款的支持下，我们正在使用血浆、唾液和尿液OT测量来检查在分娩后前3个月重返全职工作的母亲与未重返全职工作的母亲的OT反应。最近，在一系列无关的研究中，我们的研究小组已经开始检查新的基因组生物标记物。我们现在建议通过检查与3个系统相关的基因表达标记来修订这项R01拨款：1)催产素能，2)HPA轴和3)SNS。我们建议在60名婴儿的母亲中比较这些目标基因表达标记物，这些母亲按母乳喂养和奶瓶喂养状态分组，母亲是否因为提前返回工作岗位而经历定期的分离压力，以及家庭环境是否包括高或低经济压力。这项研究将首次检测人白细胞上OT基因的表达，并首次同时检测生活应激对OT、SNS和HPA基因表达标志物的影响。 公共卫生相关性：R01 HL084222的这一竞争性修订旨在通过纳入在60名婴儿母亲的应激前后获得的新的白细胞基因表达指标，扩大催产素在婴儿母亲心血管益处中的作用的生物行为研究。这项修订将检查与催产素活动、交感神经系统活动和HPA轴活动有关的基因，还将为一名海地裔黑人准医学生提供全职工作，并为其他教职员工提供兼职支持。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Competitive Revision is in response to Notice Number NOT-OD-10-032 with Notice Title: NIH Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Competitive Revision Applications (R01, R03, R15, R21, R21/33 and R37) through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet). The Revision specifically addresses the epigenetic/ genomic area under the topic of interactions between biology, behavior and social processes. The first year after childbirth is highly stressful for many mothers, but enhanced activity of the "bonding hormone" oxytocin (OT) may decrease blood pressure (BP), sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) activity and stress behavior, while increasing positive affect and activation of central reward pathways during mother-infant contact. For young parents with limited financial resources, part of the stress of adding a baby to the family is additional financial burden. This financial strain may have been increased during the current financial crisis by job loss or reduction of income to one or both parents. Supported by the parent R01 grant, we are examining OT responses of mothers who did vs. did not return to full-time work in the first 3 months after delivery, using plasma, saliva and urinary OT measures. Recently, in an unrelated series of studies, our research group has begun to examine novel genomic biomarkers. We now propose to revise this R01 grant by examining gene expression markers related to 3 systems: 1) oxytocinergic, 2) the HPA axis and 3) the SNS. We propose to compare these targeted gene expression markers in 60 mothers of infants grouped according to breast-feeding vs. bottle-feeding status, whether the mother experiences regular separation stress due to early return to work, and whether the family setting includes high vs. low financial stress. This research will be the first to examine OT gene expression on human leukocytes, and the first to examine the influence of life stress on OT, SNS and HPA gene expression markers together. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This Competitive Revision to R01 HL084222 is designed to expand the biobehavioral study of oxytocin's role in cardiovascular benefits for mothers of infants by incorporating novel leukocyte gene expression measures obtained before and after stress in 60 of these mothers. The Revision will examine genes linked to oxytocin activity, sympathetic nervous system activity and HPA axis activity, and it will also provide full-time employment to a black prospective medical student of Haitian descent as well as part-time support for other faculty and staff.