Subjective social status and inflammatory gene expression

There exists a well-established link between low perceived social status and poorer health outcomes. However, the molecular mechanisms associated with this link remain unclear. This study begins to fill this gap by investigating the effects of low perceived subjective social status on health-related gene expression.

Participants were 47 healthy heterosexual women (mean age 20.5 years) from a large American university. Participants gave 10 mL of peripheral blood and completed questionnaires assessing subjective social status (SSS), perceived childhood socioeconomic status (SES), health, and relevant demographics. Putatively associated genes were subject to TELiS promoter-based bioinformatic analysis to assess activity of proinflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral transcription factors.

In analyses controlling for perceived childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and other covariates, 84 transcripts showed >1.5-fold difference in average expression across the range of SSS. TELiS bioinformatics analyses implicated the proinflammatory transcription factors, NF-κB and AP-1, in driving expression of genes that were up-regulated in low-SSS individuals. Results also indicated increased activity of CREB family transcription factors but no differential activity of the anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid receptor of interferon response factors. Transcript origin analysis implicated monocytes and dendritic cells as cellular mediators.

In this first study examining the molecular correlates of SSS, experiences of low social status are associated with transcriptional effects similar to those previously observed for objective adversity conditions such as low SES, social isolation, and chronic stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).