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Psychological Stress in Children May Alter the Immune Response

Emma Carlsson, Anneli Frostell, Johnny Ludvigsson and Maria Faresjö
J Immunol February 5, 2014, 1301713; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1301713
Emma Carlsson
*School of Health Sciences, Department of Natural Science and Biomedicine, The Biomedical Platform, Jönköping University, SE-551 11 Jönköping, Sweden;
†Division of Medical Diagnostics, Ryhov County Hospital, SE-551 85 Jönköping, Sweden;
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Anneli Frostell
‡Division of Paediatrics and Diabetes Research Centre, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden;
§Division of Psychology, Department of Behavioural Science and Learning, Faculty of Arts and Science, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden; and
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Johnny Ludvigsson
‡Division of Paediatrics and Diabetes Research Centre, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden;
¶University Hospital, Östergötland County Council Linköping, SE-581 85 Linköping, Sweden
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Maria Faresjö
*School of Health Sciences, Department of Natural Science and Biomedicine, The Biomedical Platform, Jönköping University, SE-551 11 Jönköping, Sweden;
†Division of Medical Diagnostics, Ryhov County Hospital, SE-551 85 Jönköping, Sweden;
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Abstract

Psychological stress is a public health issue even in children and has been associated with a number of immunological diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between psychological stress and immune response in healthy children, with special focus on autoimmunity. In this study, psychological stress was based on a composite measure of stress in the family across the domains: 1) serious life events, 2) parenting stress, 3) lack of social support, and 4) parental worries. PBMCs, collected from 5-y-old high-stressed children (n = 26) and from 5-y-old children without high stress within the family (n = 52), from the All Babies In Southeast Sweden cohort, were stimulated with Ags (tetanus toxoid and β-lactoglobulin) and diabetes-related autoantigens (glutamic acid decarboxylase 65, insulin, heat shock protein 60, and tyrosine phosphatase). Immune markers (cytokines and chemokines), clinical parameters (C-peptide, proinsulin, glucose), and cortisol, as an indicator of stress, were analyzed. Children from families with high psychological stress showed a low spontaneous immune activity (IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17, CCL2, CCL3, and CXCL10; p < 0.01) but an increased immune response to tetanus toxoid, β-lactoglobulin, and the autoantigens glutamic acid decarboxylase 65, heat shock protein 60, and tyrosine phosphatase (IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17, IFN-γ, TNF-α, CCL2, CCL3, and CXCL10; p < 0.05). Children within the high-stress group showed high level of cortisol, but low level of C-peptide, compared with the control group (p < 0.05). This supports the hypothesis that psychological stress may contribute to an imbalance in the immune response but also to a pathological effect on the insulin-producing β cells.

Footnotes

  • This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (Grant K2009-70X-21086-01-3), the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (Grant 2008-0284), the Medical Research Council of Southeast Sweden, and the Swedish Child Diabetes Foundation.

  • Received July 1, 2013.
  • Accepted January 2, 2014.
  • Copyright © 2014 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.
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The Journal of Immunology: 209 (1)
The Journal of Immunology
Vol. 209, Issue 1
1 Jul 2022
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Psychological Stress in Children May Alter the Immune Response
Emma Carlsson, Anneli Frostell, Johnny Ludvigsson, Maria Faresjö
The Journal of Immunology February 5, 2014, 1301713; DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1301713

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Psychological Stress in Children May Alter the Immune Response
Emma Carlsson, Anneli Frostell, Johnny Ludvigsson, Maria Faresjö
The Journal of Immunology February 5, 2014, 1301713; DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1301713
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