Our primary goals are to assess the influence of the social environment on susceptibility to upper respiratory illness and to identify the pathways through which environmental factors """"""""get under the skin"""""""" to influence disease expression. We hypothesize that the social environment influences behavior, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses which in turn influence the regulation of both cellular and humoral immune response to the virus. We use a unique prospective design. We first assess characteristics of the social environment and the status of behavioral and physiological systems we predict to link these characteristics to host resistance in 260 healthy adults who are seronegative for antibodies to the challenge virus. Subsequently, we expose each subject by intranasal drops to one of two strains of rhinovirus and monitor them closely for evidence of infection and illness in a cloistered environment. Measures of illness collected immediately before and daily during the cloister include virus shedding and titer, nasal pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral cytokine production, nasal and general symptoms, body temperature, nasal secretion production and nasal mucociliary clearance function. Using these data, we will determine if the social environment influences illness expression by altering baseline cellular immune status (delayed type hypersensitivity), Th-1/Th-2 cytokine balance, and the ability to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines (from mitogen stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells);whether it influences the regulation of cytokine production in response to the infection;and whether the association between the social environment and immunity are mediated by the ANS (separating sympathetic and parasympathetic contributions) and/or HPA systems. All analyses will control for demographic factors and will focus on whether the social environment predicts clinical illness (verified infection + clinical diagnosis). The results of this study will define the pathways by which one's social environment influences their susceptibility to upper respiratory virus infection and may identify potential targets for behavioral or pharmaceutical interventions to restore disease resistance in persons most at risk because of their social environments.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI066367-06
Application #
7787432
Study Section
Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health Study Section (MESH)
Program Officer
Kim, Sonnie
Project Start
2005-07-01
Project End
2012-03-31
Budget Start
2010-04-01
Budget End
2012-03-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$560,228
Indirect Cost
Name
Carnegie-Mellon University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
052184116
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
Murdock, Kyle W; Seiler, Annina; Chirinos, Diana A et al. (2018) Low childhood subjective social status and telomere length in adulthood: The role of attachment orientations. Dev Psychobiol 60:340-346
Roos, Lydia G; Levens, Sara M; Bennett, Jeanette M (2018) Stressful life events, relationship stressors, and cortisol reactivity: The moderating role of suppression. Psychoneuroendocrinology 89:69-77
Chin, Brian; Murphy, Michael L M; Cohen, Sheldon (2018) Age moderates the association between social integration and diurnal cortisol measures. Psychoneuroendocrinology 90:102-109
Pulopulos, Matias M; Vanderhasselt, Marie-Anne; De Raedt, Rudi (2018) Association between changes in heart rate variability during the anticipation of a stressful situation and the stress-induced cortisol response. Psychoneuroendocrinology 94:63-71
LeRoy, Angie S; Murdock, Kyle W; Jaremka, Lisa M et al. (2017) Loneliness predicts self-reported cold symptoms after a viral challenge. Health Psychol 36:512-520
Murdock, Kyle W; LeRoy, Angie S; Fagundes, Christopher P (2017) Trait hostility and cortisol sensitivity following a stressor: The moderating role of stress-induced heart rate variability. Psychoneuroendocrinology 75:222-227
Janicki Deverts, Denise; Cohen, Sheldon; Doyle, William J (2017) Dispositional Affect Moderates the Stress-Buffering Effect of Social Support on Risk for Developing the Common Cold. J Pers 85:675-686
Murdock, Kyle W; Fagundes, Christopher P (2017) Attachment Orientations, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, and Stress Are Important for Understanding the Link Between Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Adult Self-Reported Health. Ann Behav Med 51:189-198
Chin, Brian; Murphy, Michael L M; Janicki-Deverts, Denise et al. (2017) Marital status as a predictor of diurnal salivary cortisol levels and slopes in a community sample of healthy adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology 78:68-75
Murphy, Michael L M; Cohen, Sheldon; Janicki-Deverts, Denise et al. (2017) Offspring of parents who were separated and not speaking to one another have reduced resistance to the common cold as adults. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114:6515-6520

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