Experiences of racial discrimination and adverse gene expression among black individuals in a level 1 trauma center sample. Brain Behav Immun 2024 Feb;116:229-236
Date
12/10/2023Pubmed ID
38070623Pubmed Central ID
PMC10872243DOI
10.1016/j.bbi.2023.12.009Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85180086979 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 2 CitationsAbstract
Up to 40 % of individuals who sustain traumatic injuries are at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the conditional risk for developing PTSD is even higher for Black individuals. Exposure to racial discrimination, including at both interpersonal and structural levels, helps explain this health inequity. Yet, the relationship between racial discrimination and biological processes in the context of traumatic injury has yet to be fully explored. The current study examined whether racial discrimination is associated with a cumulative measure of biological stress, the gene expression profile conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), in Black trauma survivors. Two-weeks (T1) and six-months (T2) post-injury, Black participants (N = 94) provided a blood specimen and completed assessments of lifetime racial discrimination and PTSD symptoms. Mixed effect linear models evaluated the relationship between change in CTRA gene expression and racial discrimination while adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), smoking history, heavy alcohol use history, and trauma-related variables (mechanism of injury, lifetime trauma). Results revealed that for individuals exposed to higher levels of lifetime racial discrimination, CTRA significantly increased between T1 and T2. Conversely, CTRA did not increase significantly over time in individuals exposed to lower levels of lifetime racial discrimination. Thus, racial discrimination appeared to lead to a more sensitized biological profile which was further amplified by the effects of a recent traumatic injury. These findings replicate and extend previous research elucidating the processes by which racial discrimination targets biological systems.
Author List
Bird CM, Kate Webb E, Cole SW, Tomas CW, Knight JM, Timmer-Murillo SC, Larson CL, deRoon-Cassini TA, Torres LAuthors
Jennifer M. Knight MD, MS Associate Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinCarissa W. Tomas PhD Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Terri A. deRoon Cassini PhD Center Director, Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Gene ExpressionHumans
Racism
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Trauma Centers
