LYMPHOCYTE-RESPONSE TO MITOGENS - INFLUENCE OF LIFE EVENTS AND PERSONALITY

The aim of the present study was to examine the possibility that the a ccumulation of life events is associated with low lymphoproliferative response to mitogens in undergraduate students. We also analyzed the p ossible interaction between life events and personality traits. Lympho cyte response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was lower in subjects with h igh life events compared to those with low levels. Introverted subject s were found to exhibit lower lymphocyte responses to PHA than those w ho were extraverted, and there was no interaction between the effect o f introversion and life events on the proliferative capacity. Lymphocy te proliferation was low in subjects with high anxiety scores, whether they had high or low levels of life events. In the group with high sc ores on independence a high accumulation of life events was not associ ated with lower lymphoproliferation; while in the group with low score s it was, suggesting that independence buffers the association between life stress and lower cellular immunity.