title: Effects of anxiety on TNF-alpha levels during psychological stress.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Psychological stress can influence the immune system, which may result in stress-related illnesses. In this study, we investigated the effect of psychological stress and the coping skill on plasma cytokine levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred eighty-three students, at different stages of an academic year, participated in this study. Plasma tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-2 soluble receptor alpha, and IL-4 were measured and examined in relation to the measures of anxiety [State Anxiety Inventory (SAI)] and Bell Adjustment Inventory (BAI) score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SAI scores were significantly higher in both midterm students (MTS) and examination-taking students (ETS), compared with the freshly admitted students (FAS). In addition, TNF-alpha levels were significantly different between the high- and the low-anxiety groups of ETS but not in MTS or FAS. The correlation between SAI scores and the BAI emotional scores was highest in the ETS group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TNF-alpha level was significantly lower in the ETS group with high anxiety scores, and it is situation specific.
authors.affiliation: Chanre Rheumatology and Immunology Center, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. chandrashekara_s@yahoo.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chandrashekara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jayashree
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Veeranna
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Vadiraj
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ramesh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shobha
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sarvanan
authors.forename: Yeragani K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Vikram
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000097:blood*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D015847:Interleukin-4