STRESS AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS - EFFECTS ON PRIMARY CELLULAR IMMUNE-RESPONSE

Life stress is associated with decreases in some immune functions, but little is known about the effect of stress on immune response to acti ve immunization. We examined the relationships between stressful event s, psychosocial, and biologic factors and primary immune response to a novel antigen-keyhold limpet hemocyanin (KLH). Lymphocyte proliferati on (LP) was measured prior to immunization and 3 and 8 weeks following KLH immunization. At 3 weeks, LP was significantly lower in subjects reporting more ''bad'' stress and those experiencing more psychologica l distress, while ''good'' stress and social support tended to be asso ciated with higher LP. There was a trend toward the more stressed subj ects having lower baseline, but higher 8-week, LP responses. The model that best fits these data suggests that psychosocial processes mediat e the relationship between stressful events and primary immune respons e, while biologic factors, such as recent weight gain, show direct ind ependent effects on immune response.