TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavioral immune system activity predicts downregulation of chronic basal inflammation
AU - Gassen, Jeffrey
AU - Prokosch, Marjorie L.
AU - Makhanova, Anastasia
AU - Eimerbrink, Micah J.
AU - White, Jordon D.
AU - Proffitt Leyva, Randi P.
AU - Peterman, Julia L.
AU - Nicolas, Sylis C.
AU - Reynolds, Tania A.
AU - Maner, Jon K.
AU - McNulty, James K.
AU - Eckel, Lisa A.
AU - Nikonova, Larissa
AU - Brinkworth, Jessica F.
AU - Phillips, Melody D.
AU - Mitchell, Joel B.
AU - Boehm, Gary W.
AU - Hill, Sarah E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (BCS -1551201). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We thank Adam Burgess, Emily Corrigan, Maggie Kleiser, Andy Kreutzer, Sierra Calvano, Stephanie Milligan, and Andrew Kramer their research assistance with this project. We thank Naomi V. Ekas for statistical consulting and Marian L. Kohut for her advice with the immunological measures.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Gassen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - Here, we present a mechanistically grounded theory detailing a novel function of the behavioral immune system (BIS), the psychological system that prompts pathogen avoidance behaviors. We propose that BIS activity allows the body to downregulate basal inflammation, preventing resultant oxidative damage to DNA and promoting longevity. Study 1 investigated the relationship between a trait measure of pathogen avoidance motivation and in vitro and in vivo proinflammatory cytokine production. Study 2 examined the relationship between this same predictor and DNA damage often associated with prolonged inflammation. Results revealed that greater trait pathogen avoidance motivation predicts a) lower levels of spontaneous (but not stimulated) proinflammatory cytokine release by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), b) lower plasma levels of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), and c) lower levels of oxidative DNA damage. Thus, the BIS may promote health by protecting the body from the deleterious effects of inflammation and oxidative stress.
AB - Here, we present a mechanistically grounded theory detailing a novel function of the behavioral immune system (BIS), the psychological system that prompts pathogen avoidance behaviors. We propose that BIS activity allows the body to downregulate basal inflammation, preventing resultant oxidative damage to DNA and promoting longevity. Study 1 investigated the relationship between a trait measure of pathogen avoidance motivation and in vitro and in vivo proinflammatory cytokine production. Study 2 examined the relationship between this same predictor and DNA damage often associated with prolonged inflammation. Results revealed that greater trait pathogen avoidance motivation predicts a) lower levels of spontaneous (but not stimulated) proinflammatory cytokine release by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), b) lower plasma levels of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), and c) lower levels of oxidative DNA damage. Thus, the BIS may promote health by protecting the body from the deleterious effects of inflammation and oxidative stress.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0203961
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0203961
M3 - Article
C2 - 30235317
AN - SCOPUS:85053618195
VL - 13
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 9
M1 - e0203961
ER -