title: Chronic stress modulates the virus-specific immune response to latent herpes simplex virus type 1.
abstract: We compared 71 family caregivers of dementia sufferers and 58 control subjects on three different immune measures relevant to latent herpes simplex virus Type 1 (HSV-1) infection: neutralizing antibody titers, antibody titers to a total viral antigen, and a proliferative memory T-cell response. Caregivers had significantly higher antibody titers to the total viral antigen and a poorer HSV-1 specific T-cell response than controls, but no significant difference in neutralizing antibody titers between groups was observed. These data provide additional evidence that psychological stress can modulate a virus-specific immune response associated with caregiving.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, Ohio State University College of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Glaser
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kiecolt-Glaser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000276:immunology*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D017735:Virus Latency / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral