Human social genomics.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic and observational genomics literature without systematic review methodology.
PubMed 25166010 · doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004601
What was done
This narrative review summarizes literature in human social genomics examining how everyday social-environmental conditions—such as low socioeconomic status, social isolation, social threat, urbanity, and unstable social status—affect human gene expression in leukocytes and diseased tissues.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data or effect sizes. It notes that diverse forms of social adversity associate with differential expression of hundreds of gene transcripts, commonly presenting as a conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) defined by upregulated proinflammatory genes and downregulated innate antiviral and antibody-synthesis genes.
Why it matters
It outlines a framework for social signal transduction, connecting psychological and environmental adversity to leukocyte gene regulation that may drive socioeconomic and social gradients in health.
Limits
The abstract describes a broad narrative synthesis without specific search criteria, study counts, sample sizes, or quantitative effect estimates. It relies on observational associations and mechanistic models without establishing causal efficacy in clinical outcomes.
Cited by
- supports Perceptions of social isolation, rejection, or conflict trigger the immune system to ramp up inflammation even in the absence of actual physical injury.