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Psycho-neuro-immune Mechanisms Linking Stigma and Discrimination to Carotid Plaque Formation in Persons living with HIV

Award Number: R01HL171416
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, & BLOOD INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/15/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

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Psycho-neuro-immune Mechanisms Linking Stigma and Discrimination to Carotid Plaque Formation in Persons living with HIV - Abstract: Persons living with HIV (PWH) experience constant stigma and other forms of social rejection elevating psychological stress. The project objective is to model the impact of the psychosocial experiences of stigma and social rejection on the complex interactions between multiple systems (neural, immune, and autonomic) that give rise to atherosclerotic processes in the context of treated chronic HIV-infection. This project assembles a multi-disciplinary team that will decipher the complexity of these interactions within a cohort of 150 PWH between the ages of 35-55 years that have stable anti-retroviral regimens and undetectable viral toads without history of heart failure. The study aims to test two separate psycho-neuro-immune mediation models for experiences of social rejection associated with HIV+ status on carotid plaque formation measured through high resolution ultrasound. In the first model, using an interactive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm, peripheral blood monocyte activation and expression of IL-6 will be tested as a mediator of the association between activation of threat-sensitive brain regions to social rejection and carotid plaque formation. In the second model, IL-6 expression over 7-days will be tested as a mediator for the association of ecological momentary assessments (EMA) of everyday experiences of stigma and related stress with carotid plaque formation. The reliability of these models of putative psycho-neuro-immune mechanisms in predicting carotid plaque burden will be assessed at baseline and 3-9 month follow-up. The study further aims to evaluate the potential mitigating role of the acetyl-cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway on carotid plaque formation by testing whether vagal-mediated heart rate variability (HRV) moderates the associations of neural activation to social rejection {Aim 1) and naturalistic social rejection experiences (Aim 2) with change in proinflammatory cytokine expression. The long-term objectives of this study are two-fold. First, to elucidate the relationships among these biobehavioral determinants of carotid plaque formation in PWH who traditionally are socially rejected due to their HIV positive status. The second tong-term objective is to evaluate the buffering effect HRV on these associations as a biobehavioral target for future interventions in PWH at risk for atherosclerotic CVD.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $679,834 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI	1320 SOUTH DIXIE HIGHWAY STE 650	CORAL GABLES	FL	33146	MIAMI-DADE	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	000	3	8/23/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$679,834
														Subtotal = $679,834

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $681,316 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI	1320 SOUTH DIXIE HIGHWAY STE 650	CORAL GABLES	FL	33146	MIAMI-DADE	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	000	2	7/30/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$681,316
														Subtotal = $681,316

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $708,908 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI	1320 S DIXIE HWY STE 650	CORAL GABLES	FL	33146	MIAMI-DADE	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	000	1	8/15/2023	NEW	$708,908
														Subtotal = $708,908

Grand Total All Awards = $2,070,058

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Psycho-neuro-immune Mechanisms Linking Stigma and Discrimination to Carotid Plaque Formation in Persons living with HIV

Award Number: R01HL171416

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, & BLOOD INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/15/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

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