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Population-based RNA profiling in Add Health finds social disparities in inflammatory and antiviral gene regulation to emerge by young adulthood

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  • Steven W. Cole

    (School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095)

  • Michael J. Shanahan

    (Department of Sociology, University of Zürich, CH 8050 Zürich, Switzerland; Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zürich, CH 8050 Zürich, Switzerland)

  • Lauren Gaydosh

    (Center for Medicine, Health, and Society, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235; Public Policy Studies, Department of Political Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235)

  • Kathleen Mullan Harris

    (Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27516; Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27516)

Abstract

Health in later life varies significantly by individual demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and race/ethnicity, as well as by social factors including socioeconomic status and geographic region. This study examined whether sociodemographic variations in the immune and inflammatory molecular underpinnings of chronic disease might emerge decades earlier in young adulthood. Using data from 1,069 young adults from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health)—the largest nationally representative and ethnically diverse sample with peripheral blood transcriptome profiles—we analyzed variation in the expression of genes involved in inflammation and type I interferon (IFN) response as a function of individual demographic factors, sociodemographic conditions, and biobehavioral factors (smoking, drinking, and body mass index). Differential gene expression was most pronounced by sex, race/ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI), but transcriptome correlates were identified for every demographic dimension analyzed. Inflammation-related gene expression showed the most pronounced variation as a function of biobehavioral factors (BMI and smoking) whereas type I IFN-related transcripts varied most strongly as a function of individual demographic characteristics (sex and race/ethnicity). Bioinformatic analyses of transcription factor and immune-cell activation based on transcriptome-wide empirical differences identified additional effects of family poverty and geographic region. These results identify pervasive sociodemographic differences in immune-cell gene regulation that emerge by young adulthood and may help explain social disparities in the development of chronic illness and premature mortality at older ages.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven W. Cole & Michael J. Shanahan & Lauren Gaydosh & Kathleen Mullan Harris, 2020. "Population-based RNA profiling in Add Health finds social disparities in inflammatory and antiviral gene regulation to emerge by young adulthood," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(9), pages 4601-4608, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:117:y:2020:p:4601-4608
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    Cited by:

    1. Jennifer S. Mascaro & Amanda Wallace & Brooke Hyman & Carla Haack & Cherie C. Hill & Miranda A. Moore & Maha B. Lund & Eric J. Nehl & Sharon H. Bergquist & Steve W. Cole, 2022. "Flourishing in Healthcare Trainees: Psychological Well-Being and the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-18, February.

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