To determine whether loneliness-related alterations in the expression of NF-κB- and GRE-responsive genes might stem from variations in the prevalence of distinct leukocyte subsets within the mononuclear cell RNA pool [45-47], analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were employed to adjust gene expression profiles for the relative prevalence of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14, CD19, and CD56 transcripts prior to the identification of differentially expressed genes and subsequent TFBM bioinformatics. Consistent with the findings reported above ('Differential gene expression'), results continued to show a significant increase in NF-κB/GRE prevalence ratio in promoters from genes over-expressed in leukocytes from socially isolated individuals (all p ≤ 0.0239).
