Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2016, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

This is a study to evaluate cross-sectional and longitudinal genetic associations among Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) risk factors and a select set of candidate genes involved in inflammatory, vasoconstrictive, and coagulation processes at the vascular epithelium in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Cohort. We conducted a candidate gene association analysis of multiple clinical measures for each component trait of MetS in a group of HIV-positive and -negative women of the WIHS. Thirty-two candidate genes were selected based on their pro-inflammatory, pro-vasoconstrictive, and pro-coagulative functions and expression in the vascular endothelium. The association was modeled with mixed effects model with both random slope and random intercepts. We have identified genetic variants in CKD14 and NFKB1 with longitudinal effects on MetS risk factors in African Americans and Hispanics. We provide evidence that the genetic architecture of MetS includes genes previously implicated in inflammation (NFKB1) and vessel repair (CDK14) and that HIV may mediate the magnitude of the some genetic associations.

Committee: Xiaofeng Zhu Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Robert Elston Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nathan Morris Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nora Nock Ph.D. (Committee Member); Barbara Gripshover M.D. (Committee Member); Bradely Aoiuzerat Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Epidemiology; Genetics