title: Psychosocial stress and NK cells among members of a communal settlement.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of daily psychosocial stress on the human immune system. We tested 38 couples living in a communal settlement (kibbutz) under similar economic and social conditions, sharing similar housing, nutrition and health care. They were tested repeatedly over a two year period for a number of psychosocial parameters including demoralization, social support, family cohesion, adaptational hardiness and hostility. In parallel, the natural killer "NK" cell system was analysed for distinctive markers and for cytotoxic activity. The proportion of CD16+ lymphocytes was found to correlate with cytotoxic NK activity in both men and women. In contrast, the proportion of CD57+ cells correlated with that of CD16+ cells only in women while in men only the CD57+CD8-lymphocytes subset correlated with CD16+ cells. For each individual tested, the values of NK activity and NK markers obtained in tests carried out more than a year apart showed a striking correlation. In males, NK cytotoxicity correlated with hostility but was negatively correlated with family cohesion, adaptability and hardiness. The level of CD16+ and CD57+ cells correlated positively with demoralization in males only. Changes in the level of NK activity and in the level of CD16+ cells occurring in husbands during the observation period correlated positively with changes in demoralization and negatively with changes in family cohesion and adaptability. The results indicate that daily psychological stress and low family function may enhance the NK system, and that this response may differ between the sexes.
authors.affiliation: Hubert H. Humphrey Center for Experimental Medicine and Cancer Research, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schlesinger
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yodfat
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rabinowitz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bronner
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000032:analysis; D018959:CD57 Antigens; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009013:Morale; D017452:Receptors, IgG / Q000032:analysis; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000276:immunology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D018959:CD57 Antigens; D017452:Receptors, IgG