Abstract P382: Epigenetic Regulation of the NF-kB Pathway by the Neural-Hematopoietic-Inflammatory Axis as a Potential Link Between Psychosocial Stress and Cardiovascular Risk: Data From the Washington DC Cardiovascular Health and Needs Assessment

Introduction: Chronic psychosocial stress (cPSS) is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, caused in part by dysregulation of the neural-hematopoietic-inflammatory axis and epigenetic changes. cPSS may also affect NF-kB dependent pathways, suggesting a potential link to accelerated CVD risk and health inequities for populations most impacted by adverse social determinants. Hypothesis: We propose cPSS associates with greater amygdala activity (AmygA), a stress marker, and splenic activity (SpleenA), a hematopoietic activation measure. This relates to higher pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, partially due to less DNA methylation of NF-kB pathway-related genes. Methods: 60 African American adults (93.3% female, mean age 61) with CVD risk, living in the Washington, D.C. area underwent 18 FDG PET/CT to evaluate AmygA and SpleenA. DNA methylation analysis assessed epigenetic associations of the NF- κ B1/2 gene in PBMCs and ELISA- measured serum IL-1β and TNFα. Multivariable regression analysis adjusted for atherosclerotic CVD 10-year risk score and BMI was used to examine associations. Results: Greater AmygA and SpleenA were significantly associated with one another (β=0.26; p=0.003) and both were associated with greater pro-inflammatory cytokines IL1-β (AmygA:β =0.36, SpleenA:β=0.72, p<0.05) and TNF-α (AmygA:β=0.31, SpleenA:β=0.58, p<0.05). Further, we identified 2 significant methylation sites out of 81 on the NF- κ B1/2 gene. Notably, AmygA and SpleenA were inversely associated with the NF-κB1 cg01983105 and cg07955720 methylation sites (Table). Conclusions: We highlight a possible link between AmygA and SpleenA with decreased DNA methylation of the NF- κB gene. Our findings demonstrate a potential relationship between chronic stress-related neural activity and CVD risk through immune function and epigenetic alterations. These results should be examined in larger, diverse population-based cohorts with longitudinal data to identify intervention targets for reducing health inequities.