Wright State’s Boonshoft School of Medicine receives federal funds to study individuals’ risk to toxicants

Courtney Sulentic, left, professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the Boonshoft School of Medicine, and Karen Prarthana Kirloskar, a graduate microbiology and immunology student. (Photo by Erin Pence)

Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine has launched a research project that could reveal why individuals respond differently to exposures such as burn pits or other military-relevant chemicals.

The study breaks new ground in identifying key components, which differ between individuals, that may trigger diverse molecular responses to the same chemical exposures.

The project is supported by a $643,000 grant from the Toxic Exposures Research Program. The funding was awarded to Courtney Sulentic, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and toxicology in Wright State’s Boonshoft School of Medicine, and her collaborator, Camilla Mauzy, Ph.D., at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

“We’re looking for this data to provide insight into individual sensitivity, based on gender and stress levels, to outcomes from different military-relevant environmental exposures,” Sulentic said.

The Toxic Exposures Research Program serves under a Congressional directive to provide better health care for active duty and veterans who have been exposed to chemicals, she said.

“There’s been a push in the military to do more research on health impacts on women in the military, as well as to understand why certain individuals get sick with specific exposures while others with the same approximate dose levels do not,” Sulentic said.

Sulentic’s study involves a line of cells that her lab has modified with specific genetic changes that reflect different human gene sequences. She will add estrogen or testosterone and cortisol to these cells to represent hormonal and stress responses. Then the genetically modified cells will be exposed to a range of military-relevant chemicals.

“We’re looking at whether there is a difference in sensitivity to the chemicals and how it specifically impacts antibody production,” Sulentic said.

Antibodies are important because they play a major role in how the body fights infection. Chemicals can impair antibody production and decrease the ability to fight infections.

If Sulentic’s thoughts are correct, some individuals could be more sensitive to exposure to chemicals, particularly under stressful conditions, leading to impaired antibody production and increased risk for illness.

This is a relatively new way of looking at this problem, Sulentic said. Other studies were done by using animals or animal cells.

“These models do not fully represent the genetic variations found in humans,” she said. “This has the potential for being a far more accurate model to assess risk.”

Military personnel could be exposed to low levels of various components and chemicals during their service, ranging from fumes from diesel-powered vehicles to burn pit emissions from missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The endgame is to have a far more accurate and sensitive model to evaluate and predict exposure outcomes on an individual basis,” Sulentic said. “Identification of individual risk could be used to adjust work duties or require additional protective measures to lower risk in sensitive individuals.”

Sulentic added, “My collaborator, Dr. Mauzy, said, ‘Do you realize how big of a deal getting this grant is?’”

She does. The Exposures Research Program application process was incredibly competitive. Nationwide, 134 institutions applied, and Wright State was one of only six that received funding from the program.

Sulentic said the project provides new opportunities to her students who will assist in the study, strengthens her collaborative efforts with the Air Force Research Laboratory and brings recognition to Wright State in the research field.