Implication of Spiritual Network Support System in Epigenomic Modulation and Health Trajectory

With challenges in understanding the multifactorial etiologies of disease and individual treatment effect heterogeneities over the past four decades, much has been acquired on how physical, chemical and social environments a ffect human health, predisposing certain subpopulations to adverse health outcomes, especially the socio-environmentally disadvantaged (SED). Current translational data on gene and adverse environment interaction have revealed how adverse gene-environment interaction, termed aberrant epigenomic modulation, translates into impaired gene expression via messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) dysregulation, reflecting abnormal protein synthesis and hence dysfunctional cellular differentiation and maturation. The environmental influence on gene expression observed in most literature includes physical, chemical, physicochemical and recently social environment. However, data are limited on spiritual or religious environment network support systems, which reflect human psychosocial conditions and gene interaction. With this limited information, we aimed to examine the available data on spiritual activities characterized by prayers and meditation for a possible explanation of the nexus between the spiritual network support system (SNSS) as a component of psychosocial conditions, implicated in social signal transduction, and the gene expression correlate. With the intent to incorporate SNSS in human psychosocial conditions, we assessed the available data on bereavement, loss of spouse, loneliness, social isolation, low socio-economic status (SES), chronic stress, low social status, social adversity (SA) and early life stress (ELS), as surrogates for spiritual support network connectome. Adverse human psychosocial conditions have the tendency for impaired gene expression through an up-regulated conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) gene expression via social signal transduction, involving the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), beta-adrenergic receptors, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the glucocorticoid response. This review specifically explored CTRA gene expression and the nuclear receptor subfamily 3 group C member 1 (NR3C1) gene, a glucocorticoid receptor gene, in response to stress and the impaired negative feedback, given allostatic overload as a result of prolonged and sustained stress and social isolation as well as the implied social interaction associated with religiosity. While more remains to be investigated on psychosocial and immune cell response and gene expression, current data on human models do implicate appropriate gene expression via the CTRA and NR3C1 gene in the SNSS as observed in meditation, yoga and thai-chi, implicated in malignant neoplasm remission. However, prospective epigenomic studies in this context are required in the disease causal pathway, prognosis and survival, as well as cautious optimism in the application of these findings in clinical and public health settings, due to unmeasured and potential confoundings implicated in these correlations

Implication of Spiritual Network Support System in Epigenomic Modulation and Health Trajectory

With challenges in understanding the multifactorial etiologies of disease and individual treatment effect heterogeneities over the past four decades, much has been acquired on how physical, chemical and social environments affect human health, predisposing certain subpopulations to adverse health outcomes, especially the socio-environmentally disadvantaged (SED). Current translational data on gene and adverse environment interaction have revealed how adverse gene–environment interaction, termed aberrant epigenomic modulation, translates into impaired gene expression via messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) dysregulation, reflecting abnormal protein synthesis and hence dysfunctional cellular differentiation and maturation. The environmental influence on gene expression observed in most literature includes physical, chemical, physicochemical and recently social environment. However, data are limited on spiritual or religious environment network support systems, which reflect human psychosocial conditions and gene interaction. With this limited information, we aimed to examine the available data on spiritual activities characterized by prayers and meditation for a possible explanation of the nexus between the spiritual network support system (SNSS) as a component of psychosocial conditions, implicated in social signal transduction, and the gene expression correlate. With the intent to incorporate SNSS in human psychosocial conditions, we assessed the available data on bereavement, loss of spouse, loneliness, social isolation, low socio-economic status (SES), chronic stress, low social status, social adversity (SA) and early life stress (ELS), as surrogates for spiritual support network connectome. Adverse human psychosocial conditions have the tendency for impaired gene expression through an up-regulated conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) gene expression via social signal transduction, involving the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), beta-adrenergic receptors, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the glucocorticoid response. This review specifically explored CTRA gene expression and the nuclear receptor subfamily 3 group C member 1 (NR3C1) gene, a glucocorticoid receptor gene, in response to stress and the impaired negative feedback, given allostatic overload as a result of prolonged and sustained stress and social isolation as well as the implied social interaction associated with religiosity. While more remains to be investigated on psychosocial and immune cell response and gene expression, current data on human models do implicate appropriate gene expression via the CTRA and NR3C1 gene in the SNSS as observed in meditation, yoga and thai-chi, implicated in malignant neoplasm remission. However, prospective epigenomic studies in this context are required in the disease causal pathway, prognosis and survival, as well as cautious optimism in the application of these findings in clinical and public health settings, due to unmeasured and potential confoundings implicated in these correlations

Implication of Vaginal and Cesarean Section Delivery Method in Black–White Differentials in Infant Mortality in the United States: Linked Birth/Infant Death Records, 2007–2016

Racial/ethnic disparities in infant mortality (IM) continue to persist in the United States, with Black/African Americans (AA) being disproportionally affected with a three-fold increase in mortality compared to Whites. Epidemiological data have identified maternal characteristics in IM risk such as preeclampsia, eclampsia, maternal education, smoking, maternal weight, maternal socioeconomic status (SES), and family structure. Understanding the social gradient in health including implicit bias, as inherent in the method of labor and delivery and the racial heterogeneity, may facilitate intervention mapping in narrowing the Black–White IM risk differences. We aimed to assess the temporal/racial trends and the methods of delivery, mainly vaginal vs. cesarean section (C-section) as an exposure function of IM. The United States linked birth/infant death records (2007–2016) were used with a cross-sectional ecological design. The analysis involved chi squared statistic, incidence rate estimation by binomial regression model, and period percent change. Of the 40,445,070 births between 2007 and 2016, cumulative mortality incidence was 249,135 (1.16 per 1000). The IM rate was highest among Black/AA (11.41 per 1000), intermediate among Whites (5.19 per 1000), and lowest among Asian /Pacific Islanders (4.24 per 1000). The cumulative incidence rate difference, comparing vaginal to cesarean procedure was 1.73 per 1000 infants, implying excess IM with C-section. Compared to C-section, there was a 31% decreased risk of IM among mothers with vaginal delivery, rate ratio (RR) = 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64–0.74. Racial disparities were observed in the method of delivery associated with IM. Black/AA mothers with vaginal delivery had a 6% decreased risk of IM compared to C-section, RR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.92–0.95, while Whites with vaginal delivery had a 38% decrease risk of IM relative to C-section, RR= 0.68, 95% CI: 0.67–0.69, p < 0.001. Infant mortality varied by race, with Black/AA disproportionally affected, which is explained in part by labor and delivery procedures, suggestive of reliable and equitable intrapartum assessment of Black/AA mothers during labor, as well as implicit bias marginalization in the healthcare system