Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• MacConnachie, Lauren
• Zhang, Yuan S.
• Farina, Mateo
• Gutierrez, Carmen
• Hoover, Andrew
• He, Yuelin
• Aiello, Allison E.
• Noppert, Grace A.

Titel

The association between incarceration and housing insecurity and advanced immune age during late life

Ist Teil von

• Social science & medicine (1982), 2024-04, Vol.347, p.116698, Article 116698

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Quelle

ScienceDirect

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Emerging evidence suggests that psychosocial stress ages the immune system. Accordingly, immune aging may be an important potential mechanism linking psychosocial stress to aging-related decline and disease. Incarceration and housing insecurity represent severe and complex experiences of a multitude of psychosocial stressors, including discrimination, violence, and poverty. In this study, we investigated the association between incarceration and/or housing insecurity and advanced immune age in adults aged 55 and older. Our sample was derived from the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), with n = 7003 individuals with valid housing insecurity data and n = 7523 with valid incarceration data. From 2016 Venous Blood Study data, we assessed immune aging using a comprehensive set of immune markers including inflammatory markers (IL-6, CRP, s-TNFR1), markers of viral control (CMV IgG antibodies), and ratios of T cell phenotypes (CD8+:CD4+, CD+ Memory: Naïve, CD4+ Memory: Naïve, CD8+ Memory: Naïve ratios). We found that both incarceration and housing insecurity were strongly associated with more advanced immune aging as indicated by increased inflammation, reduced viral control, and reduction in naïve T cells relative to memory T cells. Given that those who experienced incarceration, housing insecurity, and/or are racialized minorities were less likely to be included in this study, our results likely underestimated these associations. Despite these limitations, our study provided strong evidence that experiencing incarceration and/or housing insecurity may accelerate the aging of the immune system. •Incarceration and housing insecurity are associated with advanced immune age in older adults.•Older adults who experienced incarceration/housing insecurity had elevated inflammation.•Older adults who experienced incarceration/housing insecurity had reduced viral control.•Older adults who experienced incarceration/housing insecurity had disrupted T cell repertoire.•Racialized minority individuals had higher prevalence of incarceration and housing insecurity.