Leukocyte gene expression as a function of perceived social isolation (PSI): Year 8

Individual differences in basal leukocyte gene expression profiles as a function of perceived social isolation (PSI) Gene expression profiling was carried out on peripheral blood mononuclear cell RNA samples collected from 93 adults in Year 8 of the Chicago Health Aging and Social Relations Study. Participants were assessed for PSI using the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and were also classified as chronically high in PSI (1/0) based on UCLA Loneliness Scale scores during study years 1-5. A 1-year lagged value of PSI is also included, and analyses additionally controlled for age at study entry, sex, race/ethnicity (dummy codes for Black and Hispanic), marital status, (log) household income, Body Mass Index (BMI), smoking history, heavy alcohol consumption, depressive symptoms (CESD), perceived stress (PSS), social support (SocSupp), circulating monocyte percentages, and RNA indicators of major leukocyte subsets (CD3E, CD3D, CD4, CD8A, CD19, FCGR3A/CD16, NCAM1/CD56, CD14).