Validating Blood Biomarkers of Brain Immune and Metabolic Dysfunction in Gulf War Illness
Roskamp Institute Inc.
Summary
The investigators goals are to identify blood lipids/metabolites that correlate with cognitive decline in the presence of the APOE ε4 allele among veterans with GWI. To determine the effect of dietary, medical and biological factors that influence lipid and metabolites in blood from GW veterans. To identify blood lipid/metabolite profiles that correlate with bioenergetics deficits and glial activation in the brains of GWI. To validate blood biomarker signatures of GWI using APOE genotyping and blood lipids/metabolites that correlate with the CNS dysfunction in GWI.
Description
Nearly 30 years later, veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI) continue to suffer from this persistent and debilitating illness, which remains difficult to diagnose due to the heterogeneity of clinical presentation and the complexity of biological responses to hazardous chemicals to which GW veterans were exposed during the 1990-1991 Gulf War (GW). Brain imaging studies of veterans with GWI and pre-clinical animal studies of rodents with GWI show that impaired bioenergetics and inflammation can be attributed to the atrophy of the axonal white matter tracts that link the cortical gray matter regio…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 35+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 35 years or older. 2. For GWI cases, served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War as active duty, national guard, or reserves and meet criteria for the CDC Chronic Multisymptom Illness (CMI) GWI definition or Kansas GWI definition. 3. For controls, must be a veteran in the same age range as those veterans with GWI as defined above. 4. Ability to understand written and spoken English or availability of a legal representative who can understand written or spoken English. Participants and caregiver/informants must be able to read, write and speak the language in which psychometric…
Locations (3)
- Palto Alto Veterans Institute for ResearchPalo Alto, California
- The Roskamp InstituteSarasota, Florida
- Boston UniversityBoston, Massachusetts