Resting parasympathetic nervous system activity is associated with greater antiviral gene expression

Danny Rahal; Sarah M Tashjian; Maira Karan; Naomi Eisenberger; Adriana Galván; Andrew J Fuligni; Paul D Hastings; Steve W Cole

doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2021.08.229

Resting parasympathetic nervous system activity is associated with greater antiviral gene expression

Brain Behav Immun. 2021 Nov:98:310-316. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.08.229. Epub 2021 Aug 27.

Authors

Danny Rahal¹, Sarah M Tashjian², Maira Karan³, Naomi Eisenberger³, Adriana Galván⁴, Andrew J Fuligni⁵, Paul D Hastings⁶, Steve W Cole⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Electronic address: danrahal@ucla.edu.
² Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁶ Center for Mind & Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95618, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
⁷ Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

PMID: 34461235
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.08.229

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 (M_age = 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.

Keywords: Antiviral gene expression; Autonomic nervous system; Parasympathetic nervous system; Type I interferon (IFN) expression.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Antiviral Agents*
Female
Gene Expression
Heart Rate
Humans
Male
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Sympathetic Nervous System*

Substances

Antiviral Agents