Project Grant F32HL184662

INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP PROBLEMS ON INFANT STRESS REACTIVITY AND PLACENTA EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF STRESS-SIGNALING PATHWAYS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT POOR SLEEP IS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY AND MULTIPLE CAUSES OF DEATH, INCLUDING CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. SLEEP DISTURBANCES ARE OF PARTICULAR CONCERN DURING PREGNANCY, WITH 76% OF PREGNANT WOMEN REPORTING SLEEP PROBLEMS AT SOME POINT IN PREGNANCY. EMERGING EVIDENCE ALSO LINKS MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP PROBLEMS AND COMPROMISED OFFSPRING HEALTH. HOWEVER, THE IMPLICATIONS OF MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP ON OFFSPRING PHYSIOLOGY REMAIN LARGELY UNKNOWN. THE NHLBI HAS PRIORITIZED EARLY DETECTION AND PREDICTION OF SLEEP PROBLEMS TO PROMOTE HEALTH ACROSS THE LIFESPAN, AND IDENTIFICATION OF MATERNAL SLEEP PROBLEMS IN UTERO MAY PROVIDE THE EARLIEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE HEALTH. IN LINE WITH NHLBI PRIORITIES, THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP PROBLEMS ON INFANT STRESS REACTIVITY AND EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF STRESS-SIGNALING PATHWAYS. THIS PROJECT WILL LEVERAGE EXISTING PROSPECTIVE DATA FROM MOTHER-INFANT DYADS (N=305). MATERNAL SLEEP PROBLEMS WERE MEASURED USING THE PITTSBURGH SLEEP QUALITY INDEX (PSQI). INFANT STRESS REACTIVITY WAS ASSESSED VIA SALIVARY CORTISOL SAMPLES COLLECTED IN RESPONSE TO A STRESSOR AT ONE-MONTH POSTPARTUM. PLACENTAL EPIGENETIC REGULATION WAS DETERMINED THROUGH DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) OF STRESS-SIGNALING PATHWAYS USING GENOMIC PROFILING OF PLACENTAL TISSUE COLLECTED AFTER BIRTH. THE PROPOSED F32 WILL LEVERAGE MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP, INFANT SALIVARY CORTISOL, AND PLACENTAL DNAM DATA THAT HAVE BEEN COLLECTED AND PREPROCESSED UNDER PARENT GRANTS (R01MH079153; R01DA031188). THE CURRENT PROJECT HAS TWO AIMS: AIM 1: TO TEST WHETHER GREATER MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP PROBLEMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ALTERED INFANT STRESS REACTIVITY; AND AIM 2: TO TEST WHETHER GREATER MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP PROBLEMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ALTERED PLACENTA EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF STRESS- SIGNALING PATHWAYS. ASSESSING THE ASSOCIATIONS MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP PROBLEMS, INFANT STRESS REACTIVITY, AND PLACENTA EPIGENETIC REGULATION WILL ADDRESS A CRITICAL GAP WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TWO GENERATIONS. WHILE COMPLETING THE CURRENT STUDY, THE APPLICANT WILL GAIN CRITICAL TRAINING AT BROWN UNIVERSITY THAT WILL STRONGLY PROMOTE HER CAREER GOALS OF BECOMING AN INDEPENDENT NIH-FUNDED INVESTIGATOR. THE APPLICANT'S TRAINING GOALS INCLUDE: 1) INCREASING UNDERSTANDING OF SLEEP METHODS AND MEASURES THAT CAN BE USED WITHIN THE PERINATAL PERIOD, 2) ENHANCING TRAINING IN UNDERSTANDING AND ANALYZING INFANT STRESS REACTIVITY DATA, 3) GAINING NEW SKILLS IN UNDERSTANDING, MEASURING, AND ANALYZING PLACENTAL DNAM, 4) ADVANCING ANALYTIC AND INFERENTIAL SKILLS TO INCORPORATE LONGITUDINAL MODELING, AND BIOINFORMATICS, AND 5) BUILDING INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATIONS AND ENHANCING MANUSCRIPT AND GRANT WRITING SKILLS. THE COMPLETION OF THIS PROPOSAL AND TRAINING GOALS, ALONG WITH THE STRONG MENTORSHIP FROM PROJECT SPONSORS (DRS. LAURA STROUD AND KATHERINE SHARKEY) AND CO-SPONSORS (DRS. CARMEN MARSIT, MARY CARSKADON, DAVID BARKER) WILL SUPPORT THE APPLICANT'S CAREER GOAL OF BECOMING A FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCHER INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL PRENATAL SLEEP ON MATERNAL AND OFFSPRING HEALTH.