Anti-cytomegalovirus antibody levels stratify human immune profiles across the lifespan.

Human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) is a ubiquitous latent persistent herpesvirus infecting 60-90% of the population worldwide. hCMV carriage in immunocompetent people is asymptomatic; thus, hCMV can be considered a component of normative aging. However, hCMV powerfully modulates many features of the immune, and likely other, systems and organs.

Human Health during Space Travel: State-of-the-Art Review.

The field of human space travel is in the midst of a dramatic revolution. Upcoming missions are looking to push the boundaries of space travel, with plans to travel for longer distances and durations than ever before. Both the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and several commercial space companies (e.

The mastery lifestyle intervention to reduce biopsychosocial risks for pregnant Latinas and African Americans and their infants: protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Pregnant Mexican Americans (hereafter called Latinas) and Black/African American women are at increased risk for psychological distress, contributing to preterm birth and low birthweight; acculturative stress combined with perceived stress elevates depressive symptoms in Latinas. Based on our prior research using a psychoneuroimmunology framework, we identified psychological and neuroendocrine risk factors as predictors of preterm birth in Latina women that are also identified as risk factors for Black/African American women.

Methods/design: In this prospective, randomized controlled trial with parallel group design we will explore psychosocial, neuroendocrine, and birth outcome effects of the Mastery Lifestyle Intervention (MLI).

Inflammatory and immune markers in HIV-infected older adults on long-term antiretroviral therapy: Persistent elevation of sCD14 and of proinflammatory effector memory T cells.

HIV-positive patients whose viral loads are successfully controlled by active antiretroviral therapy (ART) show no clinical signs of AIDS. However, their lifespan is shorter compared with individuals with no HIV infection and they prematurely exhibit a multitude of chronic diseases typically associated with advanced age. It was hypothesized that immune system aging may correlate with, and provide useful biomarkers for, this premature loss of healthspan in HIV-positive subjects.

Diminished Cellular Immunity and Executive Cognitive Functioning Among Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults.

Objective: Within the field of psychoneuroimmunology, much attention has been given to immune dysregulation and its impact on cognitive functioning. Some of this work has focused on the association between high levels of basal proinflammatory cytokines and poorer performance on measures of executive functioning; however, effect sizes have been quite small in human studies.

Methods: We investigated whether Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibody titers, a marker of immune dysregulation related to cellular immunity, may be associated with executive functioning while also attempting to replicate prior studies using two markers of proinflammatory cytokine production (i.

Psychosocial stressors predict lower cardiovascular disease risk among Mexican-American adults living in a high-risk community: Findings from the Texas City Stress and Health Study.

The objective of this study was to examine the link between systemic and general psychosocial stress and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in a group of U.S. Latinos as a function of acculturation and education within the blended guiding conceptual framework of the biopsychosocial model of the stress process plus the reserve capacity model.

Perceived Social Support and Latent Herpesvirus Reactivation: Testing Main and Stress-Buffering Effects in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Adults.

Objective: Perceived social support is consistently associated with physical health outcomes, and one potential physiological mechanism underlying this association is immune function. In this study, we tested both the main and stress-buffering effects of perceived social support on cellular immunity measured via latent herpesvirus reactivation.

Methods: Data were collected from a community-based sample of 1443 ethnically diverse adults between the ages of 25 and 90 years.

Pregnant Mexican American Biopsychosocial/Cultural risks for adverse infant outcomes.

Aims: To test a model of psychosocial/cultural/biological risk factors for poor birth outcomes in Latina pregnant women.

Design: An observational study measuring acculturation, progesterone, cortisol, cotinine, age, marital status, income, stress, depressive symptoms and coping. We tested a structural equation model to predict risk.

Relationship satisfaction determines the association between Epstein-Barr virus latency and somatic symptoms after the loss of a spouse.

The loss of a spouse is associated with a host of negative health outcomes. While bereaved individuals commonly report somatic symptoms, no investigations exist of the association between reactivation of latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and somatic symptoms among this population. Further, how an individual perceives the quality of their lost relationship in retrospect may impact loss outcomes.

Countermeasures-based Improvements in Stress, Immune System Dysregulation and Latent Herpesvirus Reactivation onboard the International Space Station - Relevance for Deep Space Missions and Terrestrial Medicine.

The International Space Station (ISS) has continued to evolve from an operational perspective and multiple studies have monitored both stress and the immune system of ISS astronauts. Alterations were ascribed to a potentially synergistic array of factors, including microgravity, radiation, psychological stress, and circadian misalignment. Comparing similar data across 12 years of ISS construction and operations, we report that immunity, stress, and the reactivation of latent herpesviruses have all improved in ISS astronauts.

Pilot Study of the Mastery Lifestyle Intervention.

Background: Recognizing the effects of acculturation on quality of life and emotional health, especially during pregnancy, we developed an intervention that would target these factors in order to improve maternal well-being during the prenatal period and potentially improve infant outcomes, particularly preterm birth for Mexican-American women (Latinas).

Objective: The purpose of these pilot studies was to test the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of the mastery lifestyle intervention (MLI) to decrease depressive and anxiety symptoms and improve coping as implemented in prenatal clinics with culturally homogenous groups of Latinas.

Methods: The MLI was tested in three small pilot studies (n = 15), one in El Paso, Texas (an urban area), and two in Bastrop, Texas (a rural area outside Austin), for acceptability and feasibility.

Church Attendance and CMV Herpes Virus Latency Among Bereaved and Non-Bereaved Adults.

Objective: There is widespread literature linking church attendance to physical health. However, little is known about the association of church attendance and the immune system, particularly during difficult life transitions. This study investigated the association between church attendance and CMV herpes-virus latency by assessing Cytomegalovirus (CMV) IgG antibody titers among bereaved and non-bereaved individuals.

Sex differences in executive functioning and latent herpesvirus reactivation among bereaved and nonbereaved individuals.

The death of a spouse is a highly stressful event. Better executive functioning has been shown to benefit men to a greater degree than women during stress. We evaluated potential sex differences in stress and immune dysregulation among control and bereaved participants who completed a self-report measure of perceived stress, neuropsychological measures of inhibition and updating/monitoring of information in working memory, and a blood draw to measure Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibody titres.

Psychological and Biological Pathways Linking Perceived Neighborhood Characteristics and Body Mass Index.

Background: Perceived neighborhood characteristics are linked to obesity, however, the mechanisms linking these two factors remain unknown.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine associations between perceived neighborhood characteristics and body mass index (BMI), establish whether indirect pathways through psychological distress and inflammation are important, and determine whether these associations vary by race/ethnicity.

Methods: Participants were 1,112 adults enrolled in the Texas City Stress and Health Study.

Reactivation of Latent Epstein-Barr Virus: A Comparison after Exposure to Gamma, Proton, Carbon, and Iron Radiation.

Among the many stressors astronauts are exposed to during spaceflight, cosmic radiation may lead to various serious health effects. Specifically, space radiation may contribute to decreased immunity, which has been documented in astronauts during short- and long-duration missions, as evidenced by several changes in cellular immunity and plasma cytokine levels. Reactivation of latent herpes viruses, either directly from radiation of latently infected cells and/or from perturbation of the immune system, may result in disease in astronauts.

Immune sensitization during 1 year in the Antarctic high-altitude Concordia Environment.

Background: Antarctica is a challenging environment for humans. It serves as a spaceflight ground analog, reflecting some conditions of long-duration exploration class space missions. The French-Italian Concordia station in interior Antarctica is a high-fidelity analog, located 1000 km from the coast, at an altitude of 3232 m.

Micro RNA clusters in maternal plasma are associated with preterm birth and infant outcomes.

The current study examined micro RNA (miRNAs) clusters from the maternal plasma to determine their association with preterm birth (PTB) and infant birth outcomes. A subsample of 42 participants who spontaneously delivered either preterm (≤37 weeks) or term was selected from a parent sample of 515 pregnant Mexican American women. Plasma samples and prenatal data were collected at a single mid-gestation time point (22-24 weeks' gestation) and birth outcomes were obtained from medical records after delivery.

Objectively Measured Social Integration Is Associated With an Immune Risk Phenotype Following Marital Separation.

Background: Close relationships play an integral role in human development, and robust evidence links marital separation and divorce to poor health outcomes. Social integration may play a key role in this association. In many ways, the study of marital separation and divorce provides an ideal model system for a more complete understanding of the association between life stress and physical health.

Depressive symptoms are associated with salivary shedding of Epstein-Barr virus in female adolescents: The role of sex differences.

Background: Adolescent females have a higher prevalence of depression in comparison to their male peers - a disparity that has been increasing over the past decade. Depression is of concern as it is associated with chronic disease and to immune dysregulation, which may be one mechanism linking depression to future pathology. This study examined the extent to which sex moderated the association between depressive symptoms and immune dysregulation during adolescence using Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation, a biomarker of cellular immune response, as a model.

An Evaluation of Perceived Health Risk and Depressive Symptoms Before a Disaster in Predicting Postdisaster Inflammation.

Objective: Exposure to major life stressors is associated with subsequent enhanced inflammation-related disease processes. Depressive symptoms exacerbate stress-induced inflammatory responses. Moreover, those who report a high degree of perceived health risk before being exposed to a major life stressor such as a disaster are at risk for poor health outcomes.

Peripheral immune system suppression in early abstinent alcohol-dependent individuals: Links to stress and cue-related craving.

Background: Peripheral immune system cytokines may play an integral role in the underlying sensitized stress response and alcohol craving during early alcohol withdrawal. To date, the nature of these immune changes during early abstinence have not been examined.

Methods: A total of 39 early abstinent, treatment-seeking, alcohol-dependent individuals and 46 socially drinking controls were exposed to three guided imageries: stress, alcohol cue and neutral.

Latent virus reactivation in astronauts on the international space station.

Reactivation of latent herpes viruses was measured in 23 astronauts (18 male and 5 female) before, during, and after long-duration (up to 180 days) spaceflight onboard the international space station . Twenty age-matched and sex-matched healthy ground-based subjects were included as a control group. Blood, urine, and saliva samples were collected before, during, and after spaceflight.

Telomere Length and Neighborhood Circumstances: Evaluating Biological Response to Unfavorable Exposures.

Multilevel frameworks suggest neighborhood circumstances influence biology; however, this relationship is not well studied. Telomere length (TL) shortening has been associated with individual-level and neighborhood-level exposures and disease and may provide insights into underlying biologic mechanisms linking neighborhood with biology. To support neighborhood-biology investigations, we sought to determine the independent effect of neighborhood exposures on TL using standard multilevel linear regression models and quantile regression, a nonlinear, social science method applicable for testing the biologic hypothesis that extremes of the TL distribution are related to poor outcomes.