Editors: Natalia
Gavrilova and
Stacy Tessler Lindau
CCBAR
Questions
and
Answers
this
Month:
Q: Whether HIV genotypes can be obtained
from dried blood spots (DBS)?
A: Current scientific literature suggests that (1) DBS can be used to diagnose HIV; (2) to test resistance to HIV drugs; (3) HIV genotype can be obtained from DBS. These statements are valid for both children and adults. See references below:
Q: Whether
quantitative HIV viral load was ever determined with DBS?
A: Yes, quantitative viral load has
been determined with DBS in some published studies like:
A: The method of measuring cortisol
in hair has been applied in a number of studies (Sauve et al., 2007,
Van Uum ey al., 2008, Thomson et al., 2009, Pereg et al., 2010, &
Gow et al. 2010). Findings from Sauve et al. (2007) found a
correlation between hair cortisol and 24-hour urine cortisol (r =
0.33). In previous studies 10 mg to 20 mg, 100 to 150 pieces,
clear hairs with no hair follicle were used to measure cortisol. Hair
samples can provide multiple, long-term cortisol measures and samples
can be collected with greater convenience than other methods (e.g.
urine samples) as it is a minimally invasive method to collect
biomarkers. However, limitations do exist when measuring cortisol
in hair: this method has not been fully validated in a large sample
study, cortisol concentration declines in dyed hair, and there is high
variability in measures obtained from different parts of a head (Sauve
et al., 2007). Despite these
limitations, using a sample of hair may be an easier and more
convenient method to gather biomarkers in population-based data
collection for cortisol.
There is no clear and concise answer for the question whether sweepings
from barbershops in different neighborhoods used to assess community
stress can get around the ecological fallacy or not. There is a need
for aggregated data, analyzed at the individual level. Aggregate
data are sometimes used to represent all involved individuals unless
researchers believe that those individuals are quite different on a
certain measure. Researchers generally understand that diversity exists
and usually proceed with caution when interpreting aggregated data. In
many cases, it is a judgment call whether or not an inference or
conclusion falls into the category of ecological fallacy.
Concerns arise in regards to measuring reliability and validity in the
barbershop sweepings approach:
Overall, using a hair
sample as a minimally invasive measure may be a convenient method to
measure cortisol in certain studies. However, it is unlikely that one
will obtain a reliable and valid measure of community stress through
barbershop sweepings in different neighborhoods.
References:
Note: We are grateful to Jiexin Liu at CCBAR for preparing answers to Q&A section for this month.
Biomarkers
and
Aging
in
the
News
Media
NIH
Press
Releases
NIH
announces Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
The National
Institutes of Health announces the transition of the
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) to
the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
(NIMHD). The transition gives the institute a more defined role in the
NIHs research agenda against health disparities, which it defines as
differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of
diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist among specific
population groups.
NIH and FDA
announce awards to advance regulatory science
The National
Institutes of Health will award $9.4 million over three
years to support four research projects in regulatory science. This
research is conducted in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, which will contribute approximately $950,000. These
projects will better inform scientists and regulatory reviewers alike
about medical product safety, and improve the evaluation and
availability of new medical products to the community.
NIH's
National Children's Study begins recruiting at 30 locations
The National
Children's Study has initiated recruitment at 30
additional study locations around the United States. Study researchers
at these locations seek to enroll women who are pregnant or may become
pregnant in the next few years.
NIH
celebrates ten years of research into health disparities
The tenth anniversary
of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) will be observed
on Sept. 23-24 in Jackson, Mississippi. The JHS is the largest study in
history to investigate genetic factors that affect high blood pressure,
heart and lung disease, stroke, diabetes, and other important diseases
in African-Americans.
NIH
statement on National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day Sept. 18, 2010
Older HIV-infected
adults face unique health challenges stemming from
age-related changes to the body accelerated by HIV infection, the side
effects of long-term treatment for HIV, the infection itself and often,
treatments for age-associated illnesses. Sept. 18 marks the third
annual National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day, an opportunity to
highlight these challenges and the research under way to improve the
health and quality of life of older people infected with HIV.
NIH-funded
studies aim to prevent, treat childhood obesity
The National
Institutes of Health is launching two major research
efforts, totaling $72.5 million, to examine ways to curtail the
nation's childhood obesity epidemic. One will study long-term
approaches to prevent or treat childhood obesity, and the other will
examine community efforts to reduce childhood obesity rates.
Mild
cognitive impairment more common in older men than older women
Older men may be at
risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI),
often a precursor to Alzheimer's disease, earlier in life than older
women, according to a study appearing today in Neurology.
NIH study
shows how insulin stimulates fat cells to take in glucose
Using high-resolution
microscopy, researchers at the National
Institutes of Health have shown how insulin prompts fat cells to take
in glucose in a rat model. The findings were reported in the Sept. 8
issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.
NIH to
launch Gulf oil spill health study
The National
Institutes of Health will launch a multi-year study this fall to look
at the potential health effects from the oil spill in the Gulf region.
The Gulf Worker Study, announced by NIH Director Francis S. Collins,
M.D., Ph.D., in June, is in response to the largest oil spill in U.S.
history, caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore
drilling oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Collins pledged $10 million
in NIH funding for the study's initial phases.
NIH
expands key pharmacogenomics resource
To help advance
research on how genes affect responses to medicines,
the National Institutes of Health is spending $15 million over five
years to expand a key resource, the Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base
(PharmGKB), http://www.pharmgkb.org/.
Lower
blood pressure goal benefits African-Americans with chronic kidney
dise...
On average, a
lower blood pressure goal was no better than the standard
blood pressure goal at slowing progression of kidney disease among
African-Americans who had chronic kidney disease resulting from high
blood pressure, according to results of the African-American Study of
Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK), the largest and longest study
of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in African-Americans. However, the
blood pressure goal did benefit people who also had protein in the
urine, which is a sign of kidney damage. The study, funded by the
National Institutes of Health, appears in the Sept. 2 issue of the New
England Journal of Medicine.
Association
between elevated levels of lead, cadmium and delayed puberty in g...
Researchers at the
National Institutes of Health and other institutions
have found that exposure to lead in childhood may delay the onset of
puberty in young girls, with higher doses increasing the chance for
later maturation.
National
Institute on Aging: Revision Requests for Active Program Projects (P01)
Program Announcement
from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
NIH
Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) Short-term
Interdisciplinary Research Education Program for New Investigators
(R25)
Request for
Applications (RFA) Number: RFA-NR-11-002
Expiration Date:
January 7, 2011
Scientific
Meetings for Creating Interdisciplinary Research Teams in Basic
Behavioral and Social Science Research (R13)
Psychosocial
Stress
and
Behavior: Integration of Behavioral and Physiological...
Request for
Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Development
of
Comprehensive
and Conceptually-based Measures of Psychosocial ...
Request for
Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Basic
Mechanisms
Influencing
Behavioral Maintenance (R01)
Request for
Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Chronic,
Non-Communicable
Diseases
and Disorders Across the Lifespan: Fogarty...
Program
Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Participation
of
NIGMS
on PAR-10-235, Climate Change and Health: Assessing an...
Effects
of
the
Social Environment on Health: Measurement, Methods and Mechani...
Request for
Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
NICHD
Program
Project
Grant (P01)
Program
Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
NICHDs
Scientific
Vision:
The Next Decade
Claude
D.
Pepper
Older
Americans
Independence Centers (OAICs) (P30)
Request For
Applications (RFA) Number: RFA-AG-11-002
Expiration Date:
October 22, 2010
Alzheimer’s
Disease
Core
Centers
(P30)
Request For
Applications (RFA) Number: RFA-AG-11-005
Expiration Date:
October 14, 2010
Restructured
Application
Forms
and
Instructions
for
Submissions
for
FY2011
Fu...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Change in Application Submission
Package and
Clarification of Research Strate...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Correction
on
the
First
Submission
Date
for
Resubmission
and
Revision
Applica...
Notice from the
NIH
Guide for Grants and Contracts
Advancing
Novel
Science
in
Womens
Health
Research
(ANSWHR) (R21)
Program
Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Subjective
Well-being:
Advances
in
Measurement
and
Applications
to
Aging
(R01)
Request for
Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Regional
and
International
Differences
in
Health
and
Longevity
at
Older
Ages
...
Request for
Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Expiration
Date:
October
15,
2010
New
book on biomeasures just published:
Conducting
Biosocial Surveys:
Collecting, Storing, Accessing, and Protecting Biospecimens and Biodata.
Editors: Robert
M. Hauser, Maxine Weinstein, Robert Pool, and Barney Cohen
The National
Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2010.
Conferences:
The National
Institute on Aging,
in conjunction with the McKnight Brain Research Foundation and the
Foundation
for NIH, will be holding the Second Cognitive Aging Summit to take
place in
Date: Wednesday, December 8 - Friday, December 10, 2010. Location:
Bethesda North Marriott in Bethesda, Maryland
The 2011 Annual Meeting will be held March 31-April 2 at the Marriott
Wardman Hotel, Washington, DC.
(Note: The Welcome Mixer is on Wednesday, March 30, 8:30 p.m.)
This Newsletter is supported by a grant from the National
Institute on
Aging, National Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5 P30 AG012857)
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