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Topic Name: Loneliness Is a Molecule
Category: Biodesign
Research persons: Harold L. Cole & His group
Location: 695 Charles Young Drive South ,Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
Details
It is already known that a
person's social environment can affect his or her health, with those who are
socially isolated — that is, lonely — suffering from higher mortality than
people who are not.
Now, in the first study of its kind, published in the current issue of the
journal Genome Biology, UCLA researchers have identified a distinct pattern of
gene expression in immune cells from people who experience chronically high
levels of loneliness. The findings suggest that feelings of social isolation are
linked to alterations in the activity of genes that drive inflammation, the
first response of the immune system. The study provides a molecular framework
for understanding why social factors are linked to an increased risk of heart
disease, viral infections and cancer.
In the recluses and those which live surrounded well, the genes of the immune
system are expressed differently. Here perhaps why the first seem more fragile
vis-à-vis the diseases.
Without having any explanation, one observed for a long time that the socially
isolated people present a higher mortality. An American team has just published
in the review Genome Biology a study giving a beginning of explanation. The
researchers were interested in the leucocytes, i.e. the white globules, first
line of defense of the organization against the attackers in any kind. Fourteen
voluntary students lent themselves to the experiment, of which six lined up in
the 15% superiors of the scale of loneliness developed at the point at the
Californian university of Los Angeles (UCLA) and already used in other
experiments. Because it is not enough to live as a single person to be declared
solitary. It is also necessary not to count too many friends nor of family
around oneself… The seven other volunteers were located, them, in the 15%
inferiors of this scale.
Towards a drug against loneliness?
The team (which comprised scientists of the UCLA and university of Chicago)
focused itself on the expression of the genome of globules blanks, testimony of
the activity of the immune system. The researchers followed 209 genes to check
how they were read, or into proteins. The
result is eloquent: all these genes are differently used by the two groups. For
78 of them, their activity is sure prime in the recluses, which means that these
genes, more often read, are used to synthesize more proteins. Contrary, 131
genes under-are expressed.
Among genes sure primes in the recluses, much are implied in the activation of
the immune system and the inflammatory reactions. In the 131 whose activity is
less, one finds genes intervening in defense against the viruses and the
antibodies.
Cole and colleagues at UCLA and the University of Chicago used DNA micro arrays
to survey the activity of all known human genes in white blood cells from 14
individuals in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study. Six
participants scored in the top 15 percent of the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a widely
used measure of loneliness that was developed in the 1970s. The others scored in
the bottom 15 percent. The researchers found that 209
gene transcripts — the
first step in the making of a protein — were differentially expressed between
the two groups, with 78 being over expressed and 131 under expressed.
"Leukocyte (white blood cell) gene expression appears to be remodeled in
chronically lonely individuals," Cole said.
Genes over expressed in lonely individuals included many involved in immune
system activation and inflammation. But interestingly, several other key gene
sets were under expressed, including those involved in antiviral responses and
antibody production.
"These findings provide molecular targets for our efforts to block the adverse
health effects of social isolation," said Cole.
"We found that what counts at the level of gene expression is not how many
people you know, it's how many you feel really close to over time," he added.
About Researchers:
Prof. Steve Cole
coles@ucla.edu
The UCLA DNA Microarray Core
Room 5554 Gonda Center
695 Charles Young Drive South
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Our phone number: 310-267 1947
cole is the member of Array Data Analysis Group.The Array Data Analysis Group
(ADAG) specializes in the analysis of DNA microarray, tissue array, and
proteomics data and is comprised of faculty and students in the departments of
Human Genetics, Biostatistics, and the Bioinformatics Program. ADAG has 3
missions: education, data analysis and research
Funded:
The study was supported by the
National Institutes of Health;
the Mind, Body, Brain and Health
Initiative of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation;
the
Norman
Cousins
Center for
Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA;
the John Templeton Foundation; and
the James B.
Pendleton Charitable Trust. Other authors included
Louise C. Hawkley,
Jesusa M. Arevalo, Caroline Y.
Sung, Robert M.
Rose and
John T. Cacioppo.
The Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA
encompasses an interdisciplinary network of scientists working to advance the
understanding of psychoneuro-immunology by
linking basic and clinical research programs and by translating findings into
clinical practice. The center is affiliated with the
Semel Institute for Neuroscience and
Human Behavior at UCLA and
the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
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