Social position also affects health

Recent research on macaque monkeys, a fairly common short-tailed macaque in Asia, has helped solve a long-standing question in the scientific world about the link between social position and health.

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According to the BBC, in previous studies on this species of monkey, scientists have shown that the dominant position in a monkey's community correlates with stress levels, related to sex hormones, intake chemicals in the brain and blood cells.

Monkey Macaque

But no one has answered why the immunity is weak, or some chemicals are related to the specific position in society?

Jenny Tung, a visiting associate professor at Duke University and her colleagues, solved this question by carefully determining the social rank of 10 brown monkey groups, each consisting of 5 females. Later, the researchers measured the parameters of immune cells, blood cells.

They found that the level of immunity in the blood changed according to the changes in position and 'social' level of each monkey. And based on the levels of their immune cell circulation, the researchers were able to accurately predict the 'social' position of the female monkey in the herd with an accuracy of up to 80%. These results explain the link between social environment and biological indicators.

The researchers also observed changes in the macaque's DNA and found that the dominant role in a group was related to the appearance or absence of methyl groups, a compound that could changes in gene expression. When female monkeys move from a lower position in the group to a higher position, its immune system has a very fast reaction.

The same thing happens when female monkeys 'drop' in the community. The team also hopes that this finding could lead to similar conclusions with human society.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).