Extracellular vesicle mitochondrial DNA levels are associated with race and mitochondrial DNA haplogroup
Anjali M. Byappanahalli,
Victor Omoniyi,
Nicole Noren Hooten,
Jessica T. Smith,
Nicolle A. Mode,
Ngozi Ezike,
Alan B. Zonderman,
Michele K. Evans
Affiliations
Anjali M. Byappanahalli
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
Victor Omoniyi
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
Nicole Noren Hooten
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
Jessica T. Smith
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
Nicolle A. Mode
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
Ngozi Ezike
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
Alan B. Zonderman
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
Michele K. Evans
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: Circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA (ccf-mtDNA) acts as a damage-associated molecular pattern molecule and may be cargo within extracellular vesicles (EVs). ccf-mtDNA and select mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups are associated with cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized that ccf-mtDNA and plasma EV mtDNA would be associated with hypertension, sex, self-identified race, and mtDNA haplogroup ancestry. Participants were normotensive (n = 107) and hypertensive (n = 108) African American and White adults from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span study. ccf-mtDNA levels were higher in African American participants compared with White participants in both plasma and EVs, but ccf-mtDNA levels were not related to hypertension. EV mtDNA levels were highest in African American participants with African mtDNA haplogroup. Circulating inflammatory protein levels were altered with mtDNA haplogroup, race, and EV mtDNA. Our findings highlight that race is a social construct and that ancestry is crucial when examining health and biomarker differences between groups.
