Systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis patients differ fromhealthy controls in their cytokine pattern after stress exposure

Objective. To study whether patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or syst emic lupus erythematosus (SLE) differ from healthy individuals in their imm une responses to acute psychological stress. Methods. The phenotype and function of peripheral blood lymphocytes were an alysed before and after stress exposure in patients and healthy subjects. Results. Natural killer (NK) cell numbers increased transiently in all grou ps under stress. NK activity. however, increased in healthy controls only. We observed a stress-induced increase in interleukin (IL)-4- producing (IL- 4(+)) cells in SLE patients only, whereas interferon (IFN)gamma (+) cell nu mbers increased due to stress in all three groups. An analysis of supernata nts from phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) cultures revealed increased IFN gamma an d IL-10 levels in healthy subjects but not in SLE or RA patients after stre ss exposure. Conclusions. These data demonstrate that RA and SLE patients differ in thei r immune response to stress from healthy controls. Changes in cytokine patt erns might be responsible for stress-induced exacerbation of disease activi ty in RA and SLE patients.