We examined the effects of acute psychological stress on lymphocyte proliferation and circulating levels of interleukin-1 and -2. Healthy men were exposed to two viewings of a gruesome surgery film and were asked to recall details of the film twice during a 30-min period. These subjects were compared to a nonstress control group. Lymphocyte proliferation to the mitogen concanavalin A (Con A; 5 micrograms/ml) was decreased during and after exposure to the stressor when compared to the control group. This decrease was more pronounced in subjects exhibiting greater blood pressure reactivity while viewing the film than in subjects showing smaller blood pressure responses. None of the other immunological measures was significantly affected by the stressor. Cortisol was not correlated with lymphocyte responsiveness. Possible explanations for these results and implications for further research are discussed.

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We evaluated if the effects of acute stress on immune parameters were apparent in only the women who showed concomitant and substantial sympathetic nervous system activation and after statistical adjustment for changes in plasma volume. Nineteen women in the follicular stage of their menstrual cycles were assessed for immunological responsiveness to a series of three 3-minute psychological tasks, which reliably elicit cardiovascular and neuroendocrine stress responses. Women were classified as high or low sympathetic reactors based on their cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to one of the three tasks, a public speaking task. The stress-induced decreases in CD4+ percentage and increases in natural killer cell number and cytolytic activity were only apparent among the high reactors. Further analysis adjusting for alterations in plasma volume changes showed that the increase in NK cell number remained. Stress-induced proliferative responses to pokeweed mitogen and phytohemagglutinin were not more apparent among high reactors. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the sympathetic nervous system plays a direct role in modulating the short term response to stress of some indices of the immune system in women.

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Levels of interleukin-2, a molecule that plays both neurodevelopmental and neuroregulatory roles, may have a role in relapse in schizophrenia. Levels of CSF interleukin-2 appear to be affected by relapse mechanisms, while peripheral blood levels are not. These changes are specific to interleukin-2, since levels of interleukin-1 alpha were affected by medication withdrawal but not by change in clinical state.

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