Identifying Chrono-Behavioral Characteristics of Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in Young Adults
Description: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability in adults. Manifestations of subclinical CVD (i.e., increased carotid intima-media thickness [cIMT], arterial stiffness, vascular dysfunction) are evident in young adults, decades before clinical CVD symptoms emerge. First-line CVD prevention strategies focus on obtaining recommended amounts of physical activity, sleep, and dietary components. However, advances in circadian science indicate that it is not just the amount of these behaviors, but also the timing within a 24-hour period, and the day-to-day regularity and rhythmicity of engaging in these behaviors, that is important. ‘Rest-activity rhythms’ (RAR) describe a validated construct that is increasingly used in circadian science to illustrate the timing, regularity, and rhythmicity of activity levels and sleep-wake patterns by measuring minute-by-minute movement via continuous actigraphy. Meanwhile, temporal characteristics of diet can be reliably estimated via daily photographic food records. Examination of these metrics in highly controlled laboratory studies and observationally in older adults have shown that RAR disturbances, later meal timing and meal irregularity significantly and independently increase CVD morbidity and mortality risk. Not known is the extent to which RAR, meal timing, and meal regularity are related to subclinical CVD in free-living young adults. To address this gap, we propose a 14-day micro-longitudinal study in 100 community-dwelling young adults (18-30y) where RAR and eating behavior patterns will be examined in real-world settings using 24/7 wrist actigraphy and photographic food logging, respectively. Immediately following 14 days of monitoring, subclinical CVD biomarkers including cIMT, arterial stiffness, and peripheral vascular function will be non-invasively examined. Aim 1 will determine the extent to which RAR disturbances independently relate to subclinical CVD biomarkers, while Aim 2 will determine the extent to which meal timing and regularity independently relate to subclinical CVD biomarkers in young adults. Our Exploratory Aim will examine biological sex differences in Aims 1 and 2. This study is expected to inform a new, chrono-behavioral testable paradigm for CVD prevention behaviors beyond amounts to encompass RAR, meal timing, and meal regularity to prevent subclinical CVD progression in young adults.
Funder: American Heart Association
Amount: $134,200
Funding type: fellowship
Funder scheme: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Start date: 2021-04-01
End date: 2023-03-31
Investigators: Elissa Hoopes, Elissa Hoopes
Institution: University of Delaware
Funded outputs count: 8
Funder award ID: 831488
OpenAlex ID: G6181344614