Epigenetic Mediation of Endocrine and Immune Response in an Animal Model of Gulf War Illness

Abstract

There are now compelling human epidemiological and animal experimental data that indicate the risk of developing complex diseases is influenced by persistent epigenetic adaptations in response to environmental exposures such as toxins and stress. We propose to examine the epigenomic response to diisopropyl fluorophosphates (DFP), a sarinsurrogate, and associated changes to the immune and endocrine response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge in amouse model of Gulf War Illness (GWI), with stress hormone exposure as an experimental mediator. We will study the relationship between changes in DNA methylation and chromatin modifications in peripheral blood and the brain (specifically hippocampus and prefrontal cortex) in order to pursue a mechanistic understanding of the underlying pathology of GWI. During this reporting period, we have begun data collection on DNA methylation modifications and gene expression profiles in the brains of mice exposed to saline control, corticosterone and DFP, and have developed and refined protocols for this project in line with the GWIRC sister project.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1025978

Entities

People

  • Gordon Broderick
  • James P. O'Callaghan
  • Mariana Morris
  • Mary A. Fletcher
  • Patrick O. Mcgowan

Organizations

  • University of Toronto

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Blood
  • Cells
  • Chromosome Structures
  • Computational Biology
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Dna Sequence Analysis
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Experimental Data
  • Gene Expression
  • Genetic Phenomena
  • Genetic Structures
  • Genetics
  • Hippocampus
  • Medical Personnel
  • Methylation
  • Neuroglia
  • Persian Gulf Syndrome

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Gulf War Illness and Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Veterans.
  • Immunology and Pathology
  • Neuroscience