An acute psychological stressor altered cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune responses, with cortisol and natural killer cell cytotoxicity differentiating high versus low heart rate reactors.
Observational
Does an acute psychological stressor alter cardiovascular, endocrine, and cellular immune responses in individuals with high versus low heart rate reactivity?
Acute psychological stress induces significant cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune changes, with specific responses differentiating individuals based on their baseline heart rate reactivity.
High and low reactors were preselected on the basis of their heart rate reactivity to a speech stressor in a prescreening session. In the main study, subjects were exposed to a mental arithmetic plus noise stressor. Cardiovascular activity was recorded during baseline and stressor, and blood was drawn prior to and following the stressor for endocrine and immune assays. Results revealed that the stressor decreased the blastogenic response to concanavalin A and increased natural killer cell numbers and cytotoxicity, absolute numbers of CD8+ T-lymphocytes, norepinephrine and epinephrine levels, heart rate, and blood pressure responses. In addition, cortisol and natural killer cell cytotoxicity responses to the stressor differentiated individuals high versus low in heart rate reactivity. These results suggest that the interactions among the autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system are not only amenable to psychophysiological analysis but that such analyses may play an important role in illuminating underlying mechanisms.
Sgoutas-Emch et al. (Sun,) conducted a observational in High and low heart rate reactivity. Acute psychological stressor (mental arithmetic plus noise) vs. Baseline and low heart rate reactivity group was evaluated on Cardiovascular, endocrine, and cellular immune response. An acute psychological stressor altered cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune responses, with cortisol and natural killer cell cytotoxicity differentiating high versus low heart rate reactors.