Social connection and gene regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Divergent patterns for online and in-person interaction.

Background: Social connection has been linked to reduced disease risk and enhanced antiviral immunity, but it is unclear whether online social connections have similar effects to those previously documented for in-person/offline social relationships, or whether online connections can substitute for in-person social relations when the latter are restricted. We examined this question in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing specifically on an immune system gene regulation profile known as the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), which is characterized by up-regulation of proinflammatory genes and down-regulation of genes linked to innate antiviral responses and antibody production.

Methods: We analyzed CTRA RNA profiles in blood samples from 142 healthy young adults (69% female, 87% white) during the "social distancing" period of the COVID-19 pandemic.