Parasympathetic nervous system activity can downregulate inflammation, but it remains unclear how parasympathetic nervous system activity relates to antiviral activity. The present study examined associations between parasympathetic nervous system activity and cellular antiviral gene regulation in 90 adolescents (M_age = 16.28, SD = 0.73; 51.1% female) who provided blood samples and measures of cardiac respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), twice, five weeks apart. Using a multilevel analytic framework, we found that higher RSA (an indicator of higher parasympathetic nervous system activity)—both at rest and during paced breathing—was associated with higher expression of Type I interferon (IFN) response genes in circulating leukocytes, even after adjusting for demographic and biological covariates. RSA was not associated with a parallel measure of inflammatory gene expression. These results identify a previously unrecognized immunoregulatory aspect of autonomic nervous system function and highlight a potential biological pathway by which parasympathetic nervous system activity may relate to health.

副交感神经系统活动可以下调炎症，但尚不清楚副交感神经系统活动与抗病毒活性之间的关系。本研究检查了 90 名青少年的副交感神经系统活动与细胞抗病毒基因调控之间的关联（M_年龄 = 16.28，SD = 0.73; 51.1% 女性）提供血液样本和心脏呼吸性窦性心律失常 (RSA) 的测量，两次，间隔五周。使用多层次分析框架，我们发现较高的 RSA（较高的副交感神经系统活动的指标）——无论是在休息时还是在有节奏的呼吸时——都与循环白细胞中 I 型干扰素 (IFN) 反应基因的更高表达相关，即使在调整人口统计学和生物学协变量。RSA 与炎症基因表达的平行测量无关。这些结果确定了自主神经系统功能的一个以前未被认识的免疫调节方面，并突出了副交感神经系统活动可能与健康相关的潜在生物学途径。