178. Association between immune response and the physiological and psychosocial factors that may predict development of Type 2 diabetes in African American women

Obesity is a multi-factorial disease process; in African Americans, factors contributing to obesity and Type 2 diabetes include socioeconomic status, access to health care, cultural attitudes, psychosocial factors, and lifestyle behaviors. Recent progress in defining the role of the immune system as a regulator of insulin resistance has identified monocyte inflammasome activation as an important factor. Monocytes may traffic from the blood to adipose tissue and produce inflammatory mediators. Given that obesity and Type 2 diabetes are multifactorial conditions and that biological mechanisms are less well understood in African Americans, we evaluated the association between monocyte activation and physiological (BMI, HbA1c) and psychosocial factors in African American women. In this study, purified blood monocytes isolated from 14 middle aged women (mean BMI = 29.6, mean HbA1c = 5.7) were cultured with two different cell activators (LPS or virus). There was a positive correlation between the physiological factors of HbA1c and BMI and the inflammasome marker IL-1β, the inflammatory cytokine score, and monocyte-associated chemokines. The negative psychosocial factors of racism and financial strain were correlated with increased levels of the same immune variables. In contrast, the positive psychosocial factor optimism was associated with reduced chemokine. In summary, monocyte responsiveness in blood obtained from African American women is associated with known physiological and psychosocial factors that contribute to the development of Type 2 diabetes.