Positive and negative emotion are associated with generalized transcriptional activation in immune cells

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

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106103

Positive and negative emotion are associated with generalized transcriptional activation in immune cells

Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2023 Jul:153:106103. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106103. Epub 2023 Mar 29.

Authors

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

Affiliations

¹ Edna Bennet Pierce Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: rahal@psu.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; Brain Research Institute, 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: 37054596
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106103

Abstract

Alterations in immune system gene expression have been implicated in psychopathology, but it remains unclear whether similar associations occur for intraindividual variations in emotion. The present study examined whether positive emotion and negative emotion were related to expression of pro-inflammatory and antiviral genes in circulating leukocytes from a community sample of 90 adolescents (M_age = 16.3 years, SD = 0.7; 51.1% female). Adolescents reported their positive emotion and negative emotion and provided blood samples twice, five weeks apart. Using a multilevel analytic framework, we found that within-individual increases in positive emotion were associated with reduced expression of both pro-inflammatory and Type I interferon (IFN) response genes, even after adjusting for demographic and biological covariates, and for leukocyte subset abundance. By contrast, increases in negative emotion were related to higher expression of pro-inflammatory and Type I IFN genes. When tested in the same model, only associations with positive emotion emerged as significant, and increases in overall emotional valence were associated with both lower pro-inflammatory and antiviral gene expression. These results are distinct from the previously observed Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA) gene regulation pattern characterized by reciprocal changes in pro-inflammatory and antiviral gene expression and may reflect alterations in generalized immunologic activation. These findings highlight one biological pathway by which emotion may potentially impact health and physiological function in the context of the immune system, and future studies can investigate whether fostering positive emotion may promote adolescent health through changes in the immune system.

Keywords: Affect; Antiviral gene expression; Emotion; Emotionality; Type I interferon (IFN) expression.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Antiviral Agents
Emotions* / physiology
Female
Gene Expression Regulation
Humans
Male
Transcriptional Activation
Transcriptome*

Substances

Antiviral Agents

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding