1 1159 143 CONTEXTUAL MODIFIERS OF HEALTHSPAN, LIFESPAN, AND EPIGENOME IN MICE UNDER CHRONIC SOCIAL STRESS. SUSTAINED LIFE STRESS AND LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS ARE AMONG THE MAJOR CAUSES OF AGING-RELATED DISEASES AND DECREASED LIFE EXPECTANCY. EXPERIMENTAL RODENT MODELS CAN HELP TO IDENTIFY THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS, YET VERY FEW STUDIES ADDRESS THE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES OF SOCIAL STRESS ON AGING. WE CONDUCTED A RANDOMIZED STUDY INVOLVING MORE THAN 300 MALE MICE OF COMMONLY USED LABORATORY STRAINS (C57BL/6J, CD1, AND SV129EV) CHOSEN FOR THE SPONTANEOUS AGGRESSION GRADIENT AND STRESS-VULNERABILITY. MICE WERE EXPOSED TO A LIFELONG CHRONIC PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS PROTOCOL TO MODEL SOCIAL GRADIENTS IN AGING AND DISEASE VULNERABILITY. LOW SOCIAL RANK, INFERRED BASED ON A DISCRETIZED AGGRESSION INDEX, WAS FOUND TO NEGATIVELY IMPACT LIFESPAN IN OUR STUDY POPULATION. HOWEVER, SOCIAL RANK INTERACTED WITH GENETIC BACKGROUND IN THAT LOW-RANKING C57BL/6J, HIGH-RANKING SV129EV, AND MIDDLE-RANKING CD1 MICE HAD LOWER SURVIVAL, RESPECTIVELY, IMPLYING A COST OF MAINTAINING A GIVEN SOCIAL RANK THAT VARIES ACROSS STRAINS. MACHINE LEARNING LINEAR DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED BASELINE FAT-FREE MASS AS THE MOST IMPORTANT PREDICTOR OF MOUSE GENETIC BACKGROUND AND SOCIAL RANK IN THE PRESENT DATASET. FINALLY, STRAIN AND SOCIAL RANK DIFFERENCES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH EPIGENETIC CHANGES, MOST SIGNIFICANTLY IN SV129EV MICE AND IN HIGH-RANKING COMPARED TO LOWER RANKING SUBJECTS. OVERALL, WE IDENTIFIED GENETIC BACKGROUND AND SOCIAL RANK AS CRITICAL CONTEXTUAL MODIFIERS OF AGING AND LIFESPAN IN AN ETHOLOGICALLY RELEVANT RODENT MODEL OF SOCIAL STRESS, THEREBY PROVIDING A PRECLINICAL EXPERIMENTAL PARADIGM TO STUDY THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH DISPARITIES AND ACCELERATED AGING. 2023 2 3914 35 LIFETIME STRESS ACCELERATES EPIGENETIC AGING IN AN URBAN, AFRICAN AMERICAN COHORT: RELEVANCE OF GLUCOCORTICOID SIGNALING. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH ACCELERATED AGING AND INCREASED RISK FOR AGING-RELATED DISEASES, BUT THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS ARE UNCLEAR. RESULTS: WE EXAMINED THE EFFECT OF LIFETIME STRESSORS ON A DNA METHYLATION-BASED AGE PREDICTOR, EPIGENETIC CLOCK. AFTER CONTROLLING FOR BLOOD CELL-TYPE COMPOSITION AND LIFESTYLE PARAMETERS, CUMULATIVE LIFETIME STRESS, BUT NOT CHILDHOOD MALTREATMENT OR CURRENT STRESS ALONE, PREDICTED ACCELERATED EPIGENETIC AGING IN AN URBAN, AFRICAN AMERICAN COHORT (N = 392). THIS EFFECT WAS PRIMARILY DRIVEN BY PERSONAL LIFE STRESSORS, WAS MORE PRONOUNCED WITH ADVANCING AGE, AND WAS BLUNTED IN INDIVIDUALS WITH HIGHER CHILDHOOD ABUSE EXPOSURE. HYPOTHESIZING THAT THESE EPIGENETIC EFFECTS COULD BE MEDIATED BY GLUCOCORTICOID SIGNALING, WE FOUND THAT A HIGH NUMBER (N = 85) OF EPIGENETIC CLOCK CPG SITES WERE LOCATED WITHIN GLUCOCORTICOID RESPONSE ELEMENTS. WE FURTHER EXAMINED THE FUNCTIONAL EFFECTS OF GLUCOCORTICOIDS ON EPIGENETIC CLOCK CPGS IN AN INDEPENDENT SAMPLE WITH GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION (N = 124) AND GENE EXPRESSION DATA (N = 297) BEFORE AND AFTER EXPOSURE TO THE GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR AGONIST DEXAMETHASONE. DEXAMETHASONE INDUCED DYNAMIC CHANGES IN METHYLATION IN 31.2 % (110/353) OF THESE CPGS AND TRANSCRIPTION IN 81.7 % (139/170) OF GENES NEIGHBORING EPIGENETIC CLOCK CPGS. DISEASE ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS OF THESE DEXAMETHASONE-REGULATED GENES SHOWED ENRICHED ASSOCIATION FOR AGING-RELATED DISEASES, INCLUDING CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE, ARTERIOSCLEROSIS, AND LEUKEMIAS. CONCLUSIONS: CUMULATIVE LIFETIME STRESS MAY ACCELERATE EPIGENETIC AGING, AN EFFECT THAT COULD BE DRIVEN BY GLUCOCORTICOID-INDUCED EPIGENETIC CHANGES. THESE FINDINGS CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MECHANISMS LINKING CHRONIC STRESS WITH ACCELERATED AGING AND HEIGHTENED DISEASE RISK. 2015 3 2999 32 GENETIC VARIATION, STRESS, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS RESPONSE IN ADULTS WITH FOOD ALLERGY OR CELIAC DISEASE. BACKGROUND: PERSISTENTLY HIGH CHRONIC STRESS CAN LEAD TO MALADAPTIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS RESPONSES AND POOR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH, HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANCE OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUALS AT INCREASED RISK. CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITION DIAGNOSIS AND GENETICS ARE 2 CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAN INFLUENCE STRESS, STRESS RESPONSE, AND HEALTH OUTCOMES. PURPOSE: FOOD ALLERGY (FA) AND CELIAC DISEASE (CD) REQUIRE CONSTANT VIGILANCE IN DAILY LIFE AND CAN LEAD TO INCREASED STRESS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS WAS TO EXAMINE THE ASSOCIATION OF VARIANTS IN SELECTED STRESS-RELATED GENES WITH STRESS EXPOSURES, STRESS, CLINICAL MEASURES OF PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS RESPONSE, AND MENTAL HEALTH SYMPTOMS IN ADULTS WITH AND WITHOUT FA OR CD. METHODS: WE COMPARED STRESS EXPOSURES, SYMPTOMS OF PTSD, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS, BMI, AND WAIST-HIP RATIO BETWEEN CASES AND CONTROLS. WE ANALYZED THE ASSOCIATION OF SNPS IN GENES WITH KNOWN OR HYPOTHESIZED ASSOCIATIONS WITH STRESS-RELATED MEASURES IN 124 CASES AND 124 MATCHED CONTROLS: CRHBP (RS7718461, RS10474485), CRHR1 (RS242940) AND OXTR (RS2268490). FOR THIS EXPLORATORY STUDY, P-VALUES