ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2024
Social isolation, loneliness, and inflammation: A multi-cohort investigation in early and mid-adulthood.
Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effects of virtual reality technology on negative emotions in the elderly: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Social participation of stroke patients: a bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Immunofitness in the elderly: The role of vaccination in promoting healthy aging.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2026Review
- From social isolation to frailty: the chain mediating roles of depression and cognitive decline among Chinese older adults.The Journal of frailty & aging · 2026Article
- Biography as Biology in Drug Development: Bio-Biographical Response States for Translational Pharmacology.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2026Review
- Chronic loneliness and isolation phenotypes and physical and mental health in older adults.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Loneliness, Chronic Conditions, and Healthcare Engagement in Japan: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.JMA journal · 2026Article
- Investigating relationships between loneliness, social isolation and health.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Adverse Childhood Experiences and Social Frailty Trajectory Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Network Analysis From a Population-Based Sample.Geriatrics & gerontology international · 2026Article
- Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Chronic Disease Outcomes in Adults: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- Joint trajectories of physical frailty and social relationships and associated long-term care needs among Japanese community-dwelling older adults: a 6-year longitudinal study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Divergent associations of social isolation with body composition in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.Population health metrics · 2026Observational
- The Medicalization of Loneliness: Addressing Social Ills through Healthcare.Social problems · 2026Article
- Impact of Social Isolation on Inflammatory Bowel Disease Risk and the Mitigating Effect of a Healthy Lifestyle.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Adolescent loneliness in the United States: Prevalence, sociodemographic correlates, and psychological health over time.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- Observational epidemiological studies can mitigate genetic confounding with a genetic relatedness matrix.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Associations between plasma biomarkers and changes in cognitive function over two years in people with and without HIV.AIDS (London, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- The case for space as a model of accelerated aging.Nature aging · 2026Review
- Cardiovascular risk factors and vascular neuropathological findings in primary age-related tauopathy versus Alzheimer's disease.GeroScience · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Social isolation and loneliness have been associated with poor health and increased risk for mortality, and inflammation might explain this link. We used data from the Danish TRIAGE Study of acutely admitted medical patients (N = 6,144, mean age 60 years), and from two population-representative birth cohorts: the New Zealand Dunedin Longitudinal Study (N = 881, age 45) and the UK Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study (N = 1448, age 18), to investigate associations of social isolation with three markers of systemic inflammation: C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and a newer inflammation marker, soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), which is thought to index systemic chronic inflammation. In the TRIAGE Study, socially isolated patients (those living alone) had significantly higher median levels of suPAR (but not CRP or IL-6) compared with patients not living by themselves. Social isolation prospectively measured in childhood was longitudinally associated with higher CRP, IL-6, and suPAR levels in adulthood (at age 45 in the Dunedin Study and age 18 in the E-Risk Study), but only suPAR remained associated after controlling for covariates. Dunedin Study participants who reported loneliness at age 38 or age 45 had elevated suPAR at age 45. In contrast, E-Risk Study participants reporting loneliness at age 18 did not show any elevated markers of inflammation. In conclusion, social isolation was robustly associated with increased inflammation in adulthood, both in medical patients and in the general population. It was associated in particular with systemic chronic inflammation, evident from the consistently stronger associations with suPAR than other inflammation biomarkers.
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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.