ArticleGenome biology2007
Social regulation of gene expression in human leukocytes.
Article in Genome biology, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 392 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
392 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 732 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of social alienation in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Loneliness among community-dwelling older adults across biological, clinical and psychosocial domains before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of 90 cohort studies of social isolation, loneliness and mortality.Nature human behaviour · 2023Pooled it
- The Link Between Positive and Negative Parenting Behaviors and Child Inflammation: A Systematic Review.Child psychiatry and human development · 2023Pooled it
- Are social isolation and loneliness associated with cognitive decline in ageing?Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Glucocorticoid resistance and β2-adrenergic receptor signaling pathways promote peripheral pro-inflammatory conditions associated with chronic psychological stress: A systematic review across species.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The Relationship Between Multidimensional Motivation and Endocrine-Related Responses: A Systematic Review.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2021Pooled it
- The relationship between minority stress and biological outcomes: A systematic review.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Loneliness and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in older breast cancer survivors and noncancer controls.Cancer · 2021Trial
- Propranolol inhibits molecular risk markers in HCT recipients: a phase 2 randomized controlled biomarker trial.Blood advances · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Pathways from chronic stress to cognitive decline: A multi-cohort mediation analysis of inflammation and immune-related gene expression.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Loneliness and Plasma Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Chronic loneliness and isolation phenotypes and physical and mental health in older adults.Nature communications · 2026Article
- In-hospital psychological stress and post-hospital outcomes.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- The distinctiveness of human aging I: Anthropological and developmental foundations.Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie · 2026Review
- Social Isolation, Loneliness and Subclinical Atherosclerosis.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2026Review
- Social isolation of aged mice drives dramatic release of inflammatory lipoxygenase-derived oxylipins.npj aging · 2026Article
- Associations of social isolation and loneliness with neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders, brain structures and behavioural phenotypes among UK Biobank participants.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota-derived metabolites as immune modulators in aging and age-related chronic inflammatory diseases.Ageing research reviews · 2026Review
332 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSocial environmental influences on human health are well established in the epidemiology literature, but their functional genomic mechanisms are unclear. The present study analyzed genome-wide transcriptional activity in people who chronically experienced high versus low levels of subjective social isolation (loneliness) to assess alterations in the activity of transcription control pathways that might contribute to increased adverse health outcomes in social isolates.
resultsDNA microarray analysis identified 209 genes that were differentially expressed in circulating leukocytes from 14 high- versus low-lonely individuals, including up-regulation of genes involved in immune activation, transcription control, and cell proliferation, and down-regulation of genes supporting mature B lymphocyte function and type I interferon response. Promoter-based bioinformatic analyses showed under-expression of genes bearing anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid response elements (GREs; p = 0.032) and over-expression of genes bearing response elements for pro-inflammatory NF-kappaB/Rel transcription factors (p = 0.011). This reciprocal shift in pro- and anti-inflammatory signaling was not attributable to differences in circulating cortisol levels, or to other demographic, psychological, or medical characteristics. Additional transcription control pathways showing differential activity in bioinformatic analyses included the CREB/ATF, JAK/STAT, IRF1, C/EBP, Oct, and GATA pathways.
conclusionThese data provide the first indication that human genome-wide transcriptional activity is altered in association with a social epidemiological risk factor. Impaired transcription of glucocorticoid response genes and increased activity of pro-inflammatory transcription control pathways provide a functional genomic explanation for elevated risk of inflammatory disease in individuals who experience chronically high levels of subjective social isolation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.