Immune, endocrine, and psychological responses in civilians displaced by war.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study were to assess the influence of trauma caused by forced expulsion from home in a war-ravaged region on the psychological, hormonal, and immune responses in displaced persons and to analyze the relationships between psychometric, hormonal, and immunologic variables.


METHODS
Participants were 20 displaced and 14 control women. Psychosomatic response was evaluated using the COR-NEX2 test. Serum concentrations of cortisol, prolactin, endorphin, thyroxine, and triiodothyronine were measured by radioimmunoassay. Immunophenotyping and lymphocyte proliferation were determined by flow cytometry, and phagocyte functions (i.e., ingestion and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity) against 51Cr-labeled sheep red blood cells were assessed through radioactivity uptake and release, respectively.


RESULTS
In comparison with control women, displaced women had higher COR-NEX2 test scores; higher serum cortisol, prolactin, and endorphin levels; an increase in activated phenotype within all three measured cell populations (i.e., B, T, and natural killer cells); as well as an enhanced proportion of proliferating lymphocytes in freshly isolated samples. However, the phytohemagglutinin-stimulated proliferative response, estimated as the stimulation index, was lower in displaced women. A complex pattern of relations between psychological, hormonal, and immune responses was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Chronic psychological stress elicited multiple, predominantly stimulatory influences on immune functions.
Sabioncello
A
A
Institute of Immunology, Zagreb, Croatia. ante.sabioncello@imz.tel.hr
Kocijan-Hercigonja
D
D
Rabatić
S
S
Tomasić
J
J
Jeren
T
T
Matijević
L
L
Rijavec
M
M
Dekaris
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000920:Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity / Q000276:immunology*; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D017523:Croatia; D005260:Female; D006728:Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000276:immunology*; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D014857:Warfare
D006728:Hormones