Trait Hostility and Acute Inflammatory Responses to Stress in the Laboratory.
Hostility has been associated with higher basal levels of inflammation. The present study evaluated the association of hostility with acute stress-induced changes in inflammatory activity. One hundred and ninety-nine healthy men and women, aged 19-64 years, were exposed to a stress protocol involving four interpersonal stressors. Participants completed the Cook-Medley Hostility questionnaire and provided two blood samples for the measurement of inflammatory biomarkers (CRP, Il-6, MPO, TNF-α, MCP-1, Il-8, Il-10, and Il-18), prior to and following exposure to a standardized stress protocol. In univariate analyses, hostility was associated with significantly higher TNF-α, but lower Il-8 and Il-18 values post-stress, though only Il-8 remained significant after controlling for baseline differences. In multivariate analyses, a significant Age by Hostility interaction emerged for Il-6, while sex moderated the relation between hostility and Il-10 reactivity. Following stress, hostility was associated with greater pro-inflammatory Il-6 activity among younger individuals and to decreased anti-inflammatory Il-10 activity in women. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and to evaluate their implication for disease.
Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.|Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Dominique
D
Girard
Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.|Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Jean-Claude
JC
Tardif
Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.|Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Julie
J
Boisclair Demarble
Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.|Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Bianca
B
D'Antono
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood; D007753:Laboratories; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012381:Role Playing; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
C508609:IL10 protein, human; D016753:Interleukin-10