Stress, immunity and illness — a review

Abstract

SynopsisPsychological factors have long been thought to play a contributing role in either the predisposition, onset or course of various physical illnesses. Recently, rapid advances in immunology have created interest in the interaction between psychosocial factors, behaviour and the immune system. This paper reviews some of the models proposed to explain the relationship between psychological variables and physical illness and presents evidence for a contribution of psychological factors to certain illnesses in which abnormalities in immunologic state are thought to be important. From a somewhat different perspective, animal studies have demonstrated complex effects of stress, on disease susceptibility. Recent human studies have demonstrated consistent immunologic changes in people undergoing acute naturally occurring psychological stress such as bereavement or an important examination. In humans, the effects of chronic stress may be different from acute stress, corresponding to the findings in animals. Abnormalities in immunologic functioning and physical illness are reviewed for different psychiatric disorders — depression, anorexia nervosa and schizophrenia; depression is the only disorder which consistently demonstrated immunologic changes. Possible mechanisms for the stress/immune-change relationship are suggested.

Age-Associated Changes in Interferon-γ and Interleukin-4 Secretion by Purified Human CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells

“…In the current study, we did not observe any significant age-related changes in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio, a finding which was compatible with some previous studies [14,31]. These discrepancies may be related to heterogeneity among the elderly [8], the presence of unrecognized diseases in the subjects admitted to these immunogerontological studies [22], race [24], and psychiatric problems [10]. As a result of the extensive health checkup of the studied subjects and the application of the SENIEUR protocol, the influences from miscellaneous diseases or conditions with known effects on immune status should have been minimized in our study.…”

Acquired deficit of forebrain glucocorticoid receptor produces depression-like changes in adrenal axis regulation and behavior

“…An underlying genetic predisposition for the disease could be related to mutations in GR or other loci which influence GR expression or function. Exposure to environmental factors such as stress or infection are known to decrease GR expression as well as influence the risk for depression (29,30). These triggers may then initiate a pathway that leads to the development of depression by down-regulating GR action below a requisite threshold amount.…”

“…(g) FBGRKO mice treated with NS express significantly more CRH mRNA than vehicle-treated controls (P ϭ 0.015, n ϭ 4 -6); imipramine treatment decreased PVN CRH mRNA to control levels. been shown to be temporally correlated with the onset of depression (30).…”

Estresse psicológico e enfrentamento em mulheres com e sem câncer

“…Na maioria das vezes, esse interesse se manifesta em estudos estabelecendo associações entre circunstâncias de vida, estados afetivos e aspectos de personalidade e adoecimento. A literatura apresenta associações entre posturas defensivas particulares, envolvendo a supressão de afetos, principalmente agressivos, a evitação de conflitos e o desenvolvimento das neoplasias malignas (Carvalho, 1994;Dorian & Garfinkel, 1987;Levin & Kissane, 2006;Neme, 2005;Temoshok, 1987).…”