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Social isolation potentiates cell death and inflammatory responses after global ischemia

Molecular Psychiatry volume 13, pages 913–915 (2008)Cite this article

Social integration is fundamental for good emotional and physical health. Indeed, socially isolated individuals with low perceived social support are at increased risk for many health conditions (reviewed in references Hawkley and Cacioppo1 and House et al.2), including cardiovascular disease.3, 4, 5 Development of animal models is required to understand the specific physiological mechanisms responsible for the effects of social isolation on health. Here, we provide evidence that social isolation in mice potentiates the pathophysiological responses to cardiac arrest (CA), which may explain, in part, why social isolation is as strong a predictor of 1-year mortality among acute myocardial infarction patients as some of the classic physiological risk factors, including high blood cholesterol concentrations and hypertension.5

Social context also influenced early post-ischemic corticosterone concentrations. Isolated mice had significantly elevated serum corticosterone concentrations 24 h after ischemia relative to the control mice (F2,20=4.32, P<0.0001; Figure 1h). Elevated post-ischemic corticosteroid concentrations have previously been linked to increased neuronal damage,8, 9 and may have contributed to the elevated neuronal death among the isolated mice relative to the socially housed cohort.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Z M Weil, G J Norman, J M Barker, A J Su, R J Nelson & A C DeVries

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  1. Z M Weil
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  2. G J Norman
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  3. J M Barker
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  4. A J Su
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  5. R J Nelson
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  6. A C DeVries
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Correspondence to Z M Weil.

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Weil, Z., Norman, G., Barker, J. et al. Social isolation potentiates cell death and inflammatory responses after global ischemia. Mol Psychiatry 13, 913–915 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2008.70

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