Garcia-Linares M Isabel, Sanchez-Lorente Segunda, Coe Christopher L, Martinez Manuela
Department of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Psychosom Med. 2004 Nov-Dec;66(6):965-72. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000145820.90041.c0.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a worldwide problem and a cause of significant distress and threat to health. Studies have focused mainly on mental health, and few have considered the effect on physiological systems. The aim of this research was to determine whether IPV also compromises the immune system, as evidenced by a decrease in immune regulation over herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), the latent virus that causes cold sores.
Physically abused (N = 47) and psychologically abused women (N = 27) were compared with nonabused control women (N = 37). Information about sociodemographic characteristics, lifetime history of victimization, and mental health status (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder) was obtained through structured interviews. Salivary samples were collected on two occasions, and the capacity to neutralize live HSV-1 virus was tested with a bioassay. In addition, salivary levels of HSV-1-specific antibody and total IgA were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Physically abused women had the lowest virus neutralization, significantly below the other two groups, with the psychologically abused group intermediate. HSV-1-specific antibody also tended to be lower in physically abused women, but these values were not directly correlated with virus neutralization, suggesting that loss of other antiviral factors accounted for the reduced bioactivity. The effect of IPV on immune function was not mediated directly by mental health status.
These findings confirm that the stressful disturbance associated with IPV has important physiological consequences, which could impair health by increasing the likelihood of viral reactivation and reducing the ability to suppress virus proliferation.
针对女性的亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）是一个全球性问题，是造成严重困扰和健康威胁的原因。研究主要集中在心理健康方面，很少有人考虑其对生理系统的影响。本研究的目的是确定IPV是否也会损害免疫系统，证据是对1型单纯疱疹病毒（HSV-1）的免疫调节能力下降，HSV-1是导致唇疱疹的潜伏病毒。
将遭受身体虐待的女性（N = 47）和遭受心理虐待的女性（N = 27）与未受虐待的对照女性（N = 37）进行比较。通过结构化访谈获取社会人口学特征、终生受害史和心理健康状况（抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激障碍）的信息。分两次采集唾液样本，并用生物测定法检测中和活HSV-1病毒的能力。此外，通过酶联免疫吸附测定法测定唾液中HSV-1特异性抗体和总IgA的水平。
遭受身体虐待的女性病毒中和能力最低，显著低于其他两组，遭受心理虐待的组居中。遭受身体虐待的女性中HSV-1特异性抗体也往往较低，但这些值与病毒中和没有直接相关性，这表明其他抗病毒因子的丧失导致了生物活性的降低。IPV对免疫功能的影响并非直接由心理健康状况介导。
这些发现证实，与IPV相关的应激干扰具有重要的生理后果，可能通过增加病毒重新激活的可能性和降低抑制病毒增殖的能力来损害健康。
