Modulation of secretory immunoglobulin A in saliva; response to manipulation of mood

Secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) measured in saliva, an index of mucosal i mmunity, has repeatedly been shown to be sensitive to psychological variabl es. Chronic stress is downregulatory whereas an acute psychological challen ge induces mobilisation. We examined whether an acute manipulation of mood to induce negative hedonic tone would be downregulatory, as in the chronic stress paradigm and further, whether induction of positive mood might have opposite effects. Two separate experiments were conducted. In the first, mo od manipulation was by mental recall and in the second by music. For both s IgA concentration and sIgA secretion rate there was a significant elevation in response to the mood manipulation by recall regardless of hedonic tone. There was some evidence that for sIgA secretion rate the response was more pronounced for positive mood. Mood induction by music also resulted in sig nificant elevations in sIgA concentration and secretion rate and responses were not distinguished by mood valence. None of the mood induction procedur es was associated with changes in free cortisol. In these studies, we found no evidence that transient lowering of mood was downregulatory for salivar y sIgA. The predominant finding was of sIgA mobilisation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.