Immune gene activity and late-life health disparities

The activity of genes involved in inflammation and antiviral responses could help explain social and demographic disparities in late-emerging chronic diseases, a study finds. The health of older individuals varies depending on demographic and social factors. Little is known about the biological underpinnings or molecular precursors of late-life health disparities, partly due to the lack of relevant population health studies in young individuals. Steven Cole, Kathleen Mullan Harris, and colleagues analyzed whole-blood transcriptome data from an ethnically diverse, nationally representative sample of 1,069 young adults in the United States. The authors examined the relationship between gene expression patterns and demographic, sociodemographic, and biobehavioral factors. Each sociodemographic factor analyzed was associated with variation in the expression of hundreds of genes across the genome. The authors also found sociodemographic-related variation in the activity of a prespecified set of 19 proinflammatory genes and 32 genes involved in type 1 interferon responses, which help defend against viral infections. The expression of inflammation-related genes varied most strongly with biobehavioral factors, such as body mass index and smoking, whereas variation in the activity of interferon-related genes was linked most strongly with individual demographic factors, such as sex and race/ethnicity. Taken together, the findings suggest that the activity of genes involved in inflammation and antiviral responses could help explain social and demographic disparities in chronic diseases that emerge decades later. According to the authors, early interventions aimed at reducing immune risk factors for chronic disease may help mitigate late-life health disparities.

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Article #18-21367: “Population-based RNA profiling in Add Health finds social disparities in inflammatory and antiviral gene regulation to emerge by young adulthood,” by Steven W. Cole, Michael J. Shanahan, Lauren Gaydosh, and Kathleen Mullan Harris

MEDIA CONTACTS: Steven Cole, University of California, Los Angeles, CA; tel: 310-267-4243; e-mail: <

[email protected]

>; Kathleen Harris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC; tel: 919-962-6158; e-mail: <

[email protected]

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