Social Experiences and Immune Cell Regulation Study
This study is looking at how social experiences, like feeling discriminated against, and your background (ethnicity, where you live) might affect your immune system. Researchers will use a virtual game called Cyberball™ to create experiences of social exclusion. They want to see how these experiences, along with your ethnicity and location, influence how your immune cells work and how your genes are regulated. You can join if you are at least 18 years old, identify as Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic White, or Hispanic, and live or work near Morgan State University, The University of Baltimore, or Texas Christian University. The study aims to understand how often people experience discrimination and how different types of discrimination affect them. The current recruitment status is unclear.
- Study design
- This is an interventional study planning to enroll 480 participants. It uses a behavioral intervention called Cyberball™.
- What's involved
- You will provide saliva samples, complete questionnaires about your social experiences and background, and play the Cyberball™ game. Blood samples will be collected to test immune cells.
- Compensation
- Not stated in the trial record.
- Follow-up
- The study measures perceived discrimination experiences at various times, including before and after playing Cyberball™, within 30 minutes of arriving at the lab and after completing game sequences.
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Social Experiences and Demographic Factors in the Regulation of Immune Cells
At a glance
Conditions
Where it's being run
2 sites across 2 statesStudy leadership
- Ingrid K Tulloch, PhD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Morgan State University
- Sarah E Hill, PhD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Texas Christian University
Who to contact
This trial hasn't published a contact. View it on ClinicalTrials.gov
Do you actually qualify for this trial?
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Inclusion
Exclusion
What this trial measures
- Frequency of Perceived Discrimination ExperiencesSurvey response collected before the first Cyberball Sequence within 30 minutes of arriving at the lab) and score calculated during data analysis
Before the game, participants will be asked to complete the "Everyday Discrimination Scale" designed to measure their perceptions of discrimination encountered in their everyday lives. This instrument prompts respondents to rate the frequency of discriminatory events in their daily lives, such as "being treated with less courtesy than others." Everyday Discrimination Scale Participants provide their responses on a scale that ranges from "0" for "never" to "5" for "almost every day." The summed responses provide a measure of how frequently they experienced discrimination. The summed score can range from 0 to 50; the higher the score, the more frequently participants perceived that they experienced discrimination. Additionally, participants specify whether these experiences are due to various factors, including race and gender.
- Type, Timing and Frequency of Lifetime Discrimination ExperiencesSurvey response collected within 30 minutes after completing the first Cyberball Sequence and score calculated during data analysis]
The "Experiences of Discrimination Scale" measures the type, timing, and frequency of discrimination. Participants answer "yes" or "no" to 9 types of unfair treatment, such as, "Have you ever been unfairly fired?" The sum of "yes" responses ranges from 0 to 9, with a score above 6 indicating many unfair treatments. Participants also specify if the unfair treatment was due to race, skin color, or other characteristics. The sum of responses related to ancestry, race, ethnicity, or skin color indicates the frequency of racial discrimination. Additionally, participants report the last time they experienced unfair treatment due to race or ethnicity, with responses from 1 ("past week") to 4 ("more than a year"). Lower scores indicate more recent occurrences.
- Recent Discrimination and Perceived Ethnic Discrimination ScoreSurvey responses collected within 30 minutes after completing the Second Cyberball Sequence and score calculated during data analysis]
The sum of response scores for the Recent Discrimination (a) and Ethnic Discrimination (b) subscale items of the "General Ethnic Discrimination Scale"provides the frequency of recent discrimination experience and includes a manipulation check for the validity of the recent Cyberball condition Recent Discrimination is calculated as the sum of responses to all (a) items ranging from a choice of 1 for "never" to 6 for "almost all the time. A summed minimum score of 18 corresponds to no lifetime discrimination, and a summed maximum score of 108 corresponds to the most frequent experience of perceived lifetime discrimination. Lifetime Discrimination is calculated as the sum of all (b) item responses ranging from a choice of 1 for "never" to 6 for "almost all the time. A summed minimum score of 18 corresponds to no lifetime discrimination, and a summed maximum score of 108 corresponds to the most frequent experience of perceived lifetime discrimination.
- Recent and Lifetime Discrimination Stress ScoreSurvey responses collected within 30 minutes after completing the Second Cyberball Sequence and score calculated during data analysis
The Cumulative response score from the Stress from Discrimination (c) items on the General Ethnic Discrimination Scale measures a person's perception of the stress of recent and lifetime unfair treatment due to a participant's racial/ethnic identity. Participants are asked to respond to the statement "How stressful was this for you?" for each discrimination experience. Response choices range from 1 for "not at all stressful" to 6 for "extremely stressful." Discrimination Stress is calculated as the sum of all (c) items on the General Ethnic Discrimination (GED) scale, where a summed score of 17 indicates little to no stress, and 102 indicates the highest amount of stress experienced due to recent and lifetime discrimination experiences.
- Relationship between salivary and serum immune responsesSamples used in assay are saliva collected at baseline (30 mins before) and 40 minutes after the first Cyberball sequence, and serum is purified from whole blood collected 30 minutes after the first and second Cyberball sequence.
Multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) will allow assessment of the pg/mL concentration of inflammatory cytokines in saliva and serum. These data will be used to calculate correlation coefficients that depict the magnitude and direction of the relationship between saliva and serum inflammatory cytokine concentration. The cytokines to be measured are Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α, and c-Reactive Protein (CRP).
- Distribution and Quantity of Immune Cells in Whole bloodThese data will be from whole blood samples collected 30 minutes after the first and 30 minutes after the second Cyberball sequence. The sequences are between 90 to 120 minutes apart separated by a washout period.
To determine the quantity of each type of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) available after the different Cyberball sequences, the PBMCs will be sorted and quantified from whole blood collected 30 minutes after the first and 30 minutes after the second Cyberball sequence. A Sony SH800 cell sorter is used to perform Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) with appropriate antibodies to identify T cells (CD3+), B cells (CD19+), NK cells (CD56+), and monocytes (CD14+CD16-, CD14+CD16+) and counts provided of viable cells with the cell counter.
- Stimulated PBMC Cytokine ReleasePMBCs purified from whole blood collected collected 30 minutes after the first and 30 minutes after the second Cyberball sequence are compared at 0, 2, 24 and 26 hours after incubation in LPS
Cellular Cytokine release from (PBMCs) purified from the participant's whole blood is assessed in the presence or absence of stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) toxin. The LPS incubation time will vary in length, and ELISA will measure pg/ml concentration of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, CRP
- Gene expression levelsPMBCs purified from whole blood collected collected 30 minutes after the first and 30 minutes after the second Cyberball sequence
RNA expression counts and distribution will be measured in PBMCs purified from participant whole blood collected participants after completing the first and second Cyberball sequences (collection tines separated by up 2 hours)