The main objective of this core is to provide support to the overall hypotheses of the Center projects: that selected chronic health conditions shown to be of greater risk among Puerto Rican adults relative to non-Hispanic white adults, are associated with measures of social and psychological stress, operating through indices of allostatic load and inflammation and that these conditions may be modified by vitamin intake. Nutritional measures include plasma vitamin (folate, B6, B 12, C, E, carotenes) concentrations and metabolic markers (homocysteine and methyl-malonic acid); laboratory measures of allostatic load (AL) include plasma glycosylated hemoglobin, HDL and total cholesterol, DHEA-S and urinary cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine. In addition we propose the inclusion, as part of the general AL evaluation, one additional marker of inflammation, C-reactive protein (CRP). For a subset of the cohort, we will also measure additional inflammation markers, including TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL6, chemokines (MCP-1), adhesion molecules (ICAM-1), and eicosanoids [Prostaglandins PGE2 and PGI2; and Tromboxane (TxA2)] to explore mechanistic pathways among AL, inflammation and functional declines, for more detail see project 5. Finally, for project 4, we will analyze the distribution of gene variants and haplotypes at multiple loci expected to interact with measures of allostatic load and inflammation in the processes described. Each of the coordinated proposed projects integrates into the program at least some of these dietary, hematologic and genetic measurements. These functions will be performed for all five projects.