Asthma, Epigenetic Variation and Exposure to Violence in Puerto Rican Children

Exposure to Violence, Epigenetic Variation, and Childhood Asthma in Puerto Ricans

Protocol Description

The objectives of this study are: 1) to develop novel gene-based methods for: genome-wide studies of DNA methylation and mediation analysis in studies of social epigenomics; 2) to study how exposure to violence is related to DNA methylation in nasal epithelium, and whether such violence-related methylation changes are associated with asthma or morbidity from asthma in Puerto Rican children, and 3) to perform functional validation studies for the top signals identified in objective 2.

Eligibility Criteria

Between 2013 and 2017, approximately 500 Puerto Rican children ages 6 to 14 years, with and without asthma, were enrolled in the study.

Requirements

Study visits took place at the Medical Science Campus of the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan. Study procedures included questionnaires, respiratory testing, and collection of nasal epithelial and blood samples.

Status: Enrollment period ended. Methods development and data analysis ongoing.

Source(s) of Support

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
University of Pittsburgh
University of Puerto Rico

Primary Investigator

At Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
Juan C. Celedón, MD, DrPH

At the University of Puerto Rico
Glorisa Canino, PhD

Contact Information

For more information about the study or enrollment, please contact:

At Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
Liz Hartigan, Research Coordinator
412-692-7060

At the Medical Science Campus of the University of Puerto Rico
Sonia Delgado, Study Coordinator, or Edna Acosta-Perez, Co-Investigator
787-758-2525, Ext. 2129