Psychological Stress May Induce Increased Humoral and Decreased Cellular Immunity

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Abstract
Stress alters immune function and affects different immune cell populations in different ways. The authors examined whether psychological stress has different effects on the production of macrophage, T-helper 1(Th1) cell, and T-helper 2(Th2) cell-derived cytokines. Forty-two college students were recruited and their blood was sampled on the day they were to take a stressful academic examination and again 4 weeks after the examination. The stress from the academic examination significantly increased IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 and decreased IFN-γ production. These findings suggest that examination stress may increase Th2 cell-mediated humoral immunity and macrophage activities and may decrease Th1 cell-mediated cellular immunity.