Cellular and mucosal immune reactions to mental and cold stress: Associations with gender and cardiovascular reactivity

Abstract

To examine gender differences in immune reactions to stress and relationships between immune and cardiovascular reactivity, measures of cellular and mucosal immunity and cardiovascular activity were recorded in 77 men and 78 women at rest and in response to active~mental arithmetic! and passive~cold pressor! stress tasks. Both tasks reduced CD4ϩ T cells and the CD408 ratio. Total lymphocytes, NK cells, CD8ϩ T cells, and secretory immunoglobulin à sIgA! increased with active stress. Passive stress decreased sIgA. At rest, men had more NK cells, less CD4ϩ T cells, and fewer neutrophils than women. Mental stress increased sIgA in men but not women. Cardiovascular reactivity to active stress was associated with increases in NK cells. The data support the hypothesis that stress-related increases in lymphocytes are beta-adrenergically mediated, and suggest that the fall in CD4ϩ T cells may be alpha-adrenergically driven. Mechanisms underlying sIgA reactions are more difficult to determine. Men and women differed in some cell counts, but not in reactivity, although gender influenced sIgA reactions to arithmetic.

Altered Human Neutrophil Function in Response to Acute Psychological Stress

“…Generally, chronic stress has been shown to have a negative effect on various aspects of immunity, whereas acute stress would seem to be immune enhancing (1). For example, acute stress has been shown to elicit lymphocytosis (2,3), increase natural killer cell cytotoxicity (4,5) and secretory immunoglobulin A secretion rate (6), stimulate aspects of the complement system (7), and boost vaccination responses (8). However, little is known about the effects of acute stress on human neutrophils and particularly their bactericidal function.…”

“…Self-report and cardiovascular measurements were also taken as a manipulation check, as the effects of the stress task on these variables are well characterized (3,25). It was hypothesized that acute stress would enhance neutrophil function relative to baseline.…”

Assessment of Salivary Biomarkers on Work- Related Stress

“…Researchers had significantly lower salivary cortisol level and higher values for IgA -despite being non significant-than employees that might suggest the presence of acute stress according to literature [22][23][24][25][26]. Yet, their morning salivary cortisol levels are still lying within the normal range (5.69 +/-4.58 ng/ml) stated by Brandtstadter et al [27]. Putting in mind that changes in immune function in response to stress, especially IgA are sometimes bi-directional [25], there could be an alternative explanation of the significant difference between researchers and employees regarding level of salivary cortisol.…”

Effect of Psychologic Stress on Peroxidase and Thiocyanate Levels in Human Saliva Detected by Ultraweak Chemiluminescence

“…Furthermore, the levels of some psychologic stress markers are influenced by the circadian rhythm, aging, and sex difference. 21,47,48) It is a future project to examine the effects of these factors on salivary UCL levels.…”