Acute psychological stress increases peripheral blood CD3(+)CD56(+) natural killer T cells in healthy men: possible implications for the development and treatment of allergic and autoimmune disorders

作者:Atanackovic Djordje*; Nowottne Ulrike; Freier Eva; Weber Cora Stefanie; Meyer Sabrina; Bartels Katrin; Hildebrandt York; Cao Yanran; Kroeger Nicolaus; Brunner Weinzierl Monika Christine; Bokemeyer Carsten; Deter Hans Christian
来源:Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, 2013, 16(4): 421-428.
DOI:10.3109/10253890.2013.777702

摘要

Acute psychological stress has primarily been investigated regarding its effects on conventional lymphocytes such as natural killer (NK) cells and CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. However, it might be important to focus on more %26quot;specialized%26quot; lymphocyte subsets, playing a role, for instance, in allergic conditions and autoimmunity, to identify links between stress, the immune system and somatic diseases. Using flow cytometry we determined frequencies of circulating T helper (Th)1-type (CD226(+)) and Th2-type (CRTH2(+)) T cells, gamma delta T cells, conventional CD56(+) natural killer T (NKT) cells and invariant NKT cells (iNKT) in healthy young males (N = 31; median age 26 years) undergoing a laboratory computer-based stressor lasting 12 min. We found that acute psychological stress induced a prolonged increase in CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells expressing a Th2 phenotype. We also detected an acute increase in CD4(-) and CD8(-) double negative gamma delta T cells. Finally, we found that the well-known increase in NK cells under stressful conditions was paralleled by a significant increase in numbers of conventional CD56(+) NKT cells. In contrast, numbers of iNKT was not altered by stress. This study adds further evidence to a psychoneuroimmunological model proposing that under stressful conditions certain lymphocyte subsets, including iNKT and less mature T cells, are retained in lymphoid tissues while antigen-experienced effector-type T cells with a Th2 phenotype, gamma delta T cells and conventional CD56(+) NKT cells are mobilized into the peripheral blood. We suggest that in the case of frequent stress exposure, this might result in the promotion of, for example, allergic conditions.

  • 出版日期2013-7