ArticlePloS one2019
Expression of socially sensitive genes: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Perceived Discrimination and Immunological Aging: A Systematic Review of Cellular and Molecular Markers.Biopsychosocial science and medicinePooled it
- Discrimination exposure and lymphocyte differentiation: Results from the health and retirement study.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Discrimination and dendritic cell abundance among older adults in the health and retirement study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Perceived discrimination and monocyte abundance in older adults: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- How community connection, homophobia, and racism shape gene expression in sexual minority men with and without HIV.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025Article
- Genome-wide transcriptome differences associated with perceived discrimination in an urban, community-dwelling middle-aged cohort.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025Article
- Proteome-wide association studies for blood lipids and comparison with transcriptome-wide association studies.HGG advances · 2025Article
- Biomarkers of racism-based stress injury: A feasibility and correlation study.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2025Article
- Social Genomic Determinants of Health: Understanding the Molecular Pathways by Which Neighborhood Disadvantage Affects Cancer Outcomes.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024Review
- ZIP Code to Genomic Code: Neighborhood Disadvantage, Aggressive Breast Cancer Biology, and Breast Cancer Outcomes.Annals of surgery · 2024Article
- Experiences of racial discrimination and adverse gene expression among black individuals in a level 1 trauma center sample.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Article
- Structural and social determinants of health: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.PloS one · 2024Article
- Intersectional vulnerability in the relationship between discrimination and inflammatory gene expression.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2023Article
- Social Genomics of Methamphetamine Use, HIV Viral Load, and Social Adversity.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2022Article
- Transcriptomic analyses of black women in neighborhoods with high levels of violence.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Article
- SARS-CoV-2 morbidity and mortality in racial/ethnic minority populations: A window into the stress related inflammatory basis of health disparities?Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2020Review
- Social regulation of inflammation related gene expression in the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2020Article
- Experienced homophobia and gene expression alterations in Black and Latino men who have sex with men in Los Angeles County.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGene expression may be an important biological mediator in associations between social factors and health. However, previous studies were limited by small sample sizes and use of differing cell types with heterogeneous expression patterns. We use a large population-based cohort with gene expression measured solely in monocytes to investigate associations between seven social factors and expression of genes previously found to be sensitive to social factors.
methodsWe employ three methodological approaches: 1) omnibus test for the entire gene set (Global ANCOVA), 2) assessment of each association individually (linear regression), and 3) machine learning method that performs variable selection with correlated predictors (elastic net).
resultsIn global analyses, significant associations with the a priori defined socially sensitive gene set were detected for major or lifetime discrimination and chronic burden (p = 0.019 and p = 0.047, respectively). Marginally significant associations were detected for loneliness and adult socioeconomic status (p = 0.066, p = 0.093, respectively). No associations were significant in linear regression analyses after accounting for multiple testing. However, a small percentage of gene expressions (up to 11%) were associated with at least one social factor using elastic net.
conclusionThe Global ANCOVA and elastic net findings suggest that a small percentage of genes may be "socially sensitive," (i.e. demonstrate differential expression by social factor), yet single gene approaches such as linear regression may be ill powered to capture this relationship. Future research should further investigate the biological mechanisms through which social factors act to influence gene expression and how systemic changes in gene expression affect overall health.
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