LONG TERM IMMUNOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES IN ADVERSITY-DIVERGENT TWINS (IMMUNOTWIN)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Martin Diewald
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology ; Empirical Social Research ; Immunology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 451773429

Socioeconomic conditions have a significant impact on health and disease. Despite considerable effort, these socioeconomically associated health disparities represent a substantial economic burden and psychosocial challenge. In many cases living in poor socioeconomic conditions represents a major contributor to both acute and chronic care expenditures. Accelerated immunological ageing, the natural decline in immune fnctioning with age may be the key to understanding these health disparities. Our previous research within the FNR-funded EpiPath project has identified concurrent immunosenescence and altered numbers of circulating lymphocytes at baseline,with a bias towards Th2 and Th17 cells. In this project we hypothesise accelerated immuneageing will be dependent on changes in the transcription factors determining lymphocyte differentiation and maturation. Furthermore, we hypothesise that this represents a common mechanism underlying both immunosenescence andinflammaging. In this project we will recruit a cohort of 100 monozygotic (MZ) and 100 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs from within the German TwinLife cohort that are now at an age were accelerated immunosenescence can be observed. We will harness the existing exhaustive sociological and economic data from this cohort to identifysocioeconomic and psychosocial factors such as resilience, social support, social integration and exclusion, and economic insecurity, which may buffer or reinforce immuneaggeing while excluding genetic factors. ImmunoTwin is a unique opportunity as we have assembled a highly interdisciplinary team that brings the TwinLife sociologicalcohort together with an economist, a psychologist and an immunologist/epigeneticist. By addressing not only the biology, but the socioeconomic environment we hope to gain a deeper, mechanistic, understanding of the mechanisms involved, will eventually inform public policy and in the longer-term influence community-based prophylactic approaches to intervention, eventually allowing health disparities based on socioeconomic status andtheir associated costs to be reduced.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Luxembourg
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Dr. Conchita D' Ambrosio, Ph.D.; Professor Jonathan Turner; Professor Dr. Claus Vögele