Resting parasympathetic nervous system activity is associated with greater antiviral gene expression |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychological Science, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA;2. Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Development, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA;3. Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience, School of Social Ecology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA;4. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA;5. David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA;6. Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA;7. Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA;8. Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA |
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| Abstract: | Parasympathetic nervous system activity can downregulate inflammation, but it remains unclear how parasympathetic nervous system activity relates to antiviral activity. The present study examined associations between parasympathetic nervous system activity and cellular antiviral gene regulation in 90 adolescents (Mage = 16.28, SD = 0.73; 51.1% female) who provided blood samples and measures of cardiac respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), twice, five weeks apart. Using a multilevel analytic framework, we found that higher RSA (an indicator of higher parasympathetic nervous system activity)—both at rest and during paced breathing—was associated with higher expression of Type I interferon (IFN) response genes in circulating leukocytes, even after adjusting for demographic and biological covariates. RSA was not associated with a parallel measure of inflammatory gene expression. These results identify a previously unrecognized immunoregulatory aspect of autonomic nervous system function and highlight a potential biological pathway by which parasympathetic nervous system activity may relate to health. |
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| Keywords: | Antiviral gene expression Type I interferon (IFN) expression Parasympathetic nervous system Autonomic nervous system |
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