Social support is positively associated with the immunoglobulin M response to vaccination with pneumococcal polysaccharides

Abstract

Evidence shows that psychosocial factors are associated with immunoglobulin G response to medical vaccinations. As yet, there are no reports of whether the earlier immunoglobulin M response is similarly susceptible. This study examined the association between psychological stress, social support and the immunoglobulin M response to vaccination with pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides. Stressful life events in the previous year and customary social support were measured by standard questionnaires at baseline in 74 healthy students (41 females). The response to five common pneumococcal serotypes was assessed at baseline and five-days following vaccination. Social support, particularly tangible social support, was positively associated with the antibody response to two of five serotypes, after controlling for baseline titre.These associations survived adjustment for demographics and health behaviours. There was no association between life events stress and immunoglobulin M response. It appears that psychosocial factors affect both the immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G responses to vaccination.

Parental caregivers of children with developmental disabilities mount a poor antibody response to pneumococcal vaccination

“…Such specificity has also been reported from other studies using polyvalent vaccinations (Phillips et al, 2005;Phillips et al, 2006;Pressman et al, 2005;Vedhara et al, 1999a). Indeed, in a recent study of students, social support was associated with antibody response to pneumococcal vaccination and it was types 1 and 3 again which appeared to be particularly sensitive (Gallagher et al, 2008a;2008c). One explanation for such specificity is that antigens that are less immunogenic are more susceptible to exogenous influence .…”

“…Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test for group differences in antibody titre at each follow-up separately; baseline antibody titre was always entered as a covariate. We have used the analytic strategy of representing antibody response as the follow-up antibody titre adjusted for the baseline titre throughout our previous studies (Gallagher et al, 2008a(Gallagher et al, , 2008cPhillips et al, 2005;Phillips et al, 2006). The approach of analyzing the two follow-ups separately is also identical to the one we have used in previous vaccination research (Gallagher et al, 2008a(Gallagher et al, , 2008cPhillips et al, 2005;Phillips et al, 2006).…”

“…We have used the analytic strategy of representing antibody response as the follow-up antibody titre adjusted for the baseline titre throughout our previous studies (Gallagher et al, 2008a(Gallagher et al, , 2008cPhillips et al, 2005;Phillips et al, 2006). The approach of analyzing the two follow-ups separately is also identical to the one we have used in previous vaccination research (Gallagher et al, 2008a(Gallagher et al, , 2008cPhillips et al, 2005;Phillips et al, 2006). It was in this case further Post-print Glaser et al, (2000), who found caregiver control differences only at six months following vaccination, and by, in a small study with some attrition, our desire to optimize our degrees of freedom and hence our power to detect effects.…”

Ageing, depression, anxiety, social support and the diurnal rhythm and awakening response of salivary cortisol

“…It could be speculated that social support has differing relationships with physiological variables depending on age. For example social support has been associated with vaccination response in students (Gallagher et al, 2008) but not an older adult sample (Phillips et al, 2006). Social support may be interpreted differently by these age cohorts and the relevance of different domains of support may differ.…”

The association between stress and physical health in parents caring for children with intellectual disabilities is moderated by children’s challenging behaviours

“…For example, populationbased studies indicate that individuals with low levels of social support have higher mortality rates from coronary heart disease (Berkman, Leo-Summers, & Horwitz, 1992;6 Brummett, et al, 2001). There is also evidence linking greater support to lower rates of infectious disease (Lee & Rotheram-Borus, 2001;Patterson, et al, 1996), better immune response (Gallagher, Phillips, Ferraro, Drayson, & Carroll, 2008) and recovery from surgery (Kiecolt-Glaser, Page, Marucha, MacCallum, & Glaser, 1998). While in older caregivers of patients with dementia, physical health status was not only associated with patient challenging behaviors and psychological distress, it was also related to their perceived availability of social support (Schultz, O'Brien, Bookwala, & Fleissner, 1995).…”