Natural killer (NK) cell activity and NK cell subsets in workers with a tendency of burnout.
The involvement of cellular immunity in the burnout syndrome remains to be elucidated. We assessed three components of burnout of the Maslach Burnout Inventory: emotional exhaustion; depersonalization (DP); and personal accomplishment, as well as natural killer cell activity (NKCA) and NK cell subsets in 42 male workers. Workers with a higher DP score showed a lower NKCA and a lower proportionality of CD57+CD16+ to total lymphocytes. There were no differences in any of the health behaviors (e.g., smoking, alcohol, or obesity) between workers showing higher burnout and those showing lower burnout. A stepwise multiple regressions analysis demonstrated that NKCA was closely correlated with DP, independent of other variables, including a stress index. These results suggest that the relationship between reduced cellular immunity and DP is not due to traditional work stress or health behavioral problems. Further studies on DP as a psychosomatic disorder as well as an occupational health problem should be performed in the future.
Nakamura
H
H
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Takaramachi, Japan. hiro-n@po.incl.or.jp
Nagase
H
H
Yoshida
M
M
Ogino
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000276:immunology; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000276:immunology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015438:Health Behavior; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000502:physiology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000276:immunology / Q000523:psychology; D017132:Workplace
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015703:Antigens, CD