Rosaschino F, Oleari F, Carlevaris R, Torre R, Garlaschi M L, Noseda F
Istituto di Pediatria, Università di Milano.
Boll Ist Sieroter Milan. 1991;70(1-2):409-32.
The eventuality that a particular emotional involvement could weigh heavily on a person's psychophysical welfare, assuming a complementary role in the appearance of clinically noticeable pathologies (infections, allergies, neoplasms) has been object of several hypotheses which have been confirmed in researches on animals. Our research, by examining an unavoidable and surely natural situation like that one of the birth of a brother for a first born, a particularly severe for what affectivity is concerned, had the aim to evidence if there were some biological expressions, able to quantitatively settle the eventual immune functions' alterations indicative of a preexistent equilibrium. With this purpose have been examined several biological expressions indicative of immune functions (B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, NK cells, lymphocyte transformation, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, C3 Complement fraction) in three first-born children with 2 to 3 years of age, whose mothers had in course a second pregnancy, during a period of about 20 months (from III pregnancy month to XIV month of age of the brother). The evolution of these immune functions evidence, during the whole period of observation, a non univocal performance. In the most of the cases was evidenced a variation towards diminution of the biological expression of some functions (lymphocyte transformation, T3 lymphocytes, T4 lymphocytes, T4/T8 rate, "E" Rosettes, chemotaxis and phagocytosis), while in the case of NK cells there were also variations towards augmentation. Particularly important were the variations towards diminution, that biological expressions as lymphocyte transformation and "E" Rosettes undergo. In two children the variations, towards diminution, showed themselves already before the birth of the brother. The variation of the T3 and T4 lymphocytes, of the T4/T8 rate, of chemotaxis and of phagocytosis were more limited. The values of the other examined biological expressions (T8, B7, C3) were in the normal range during the whole period of observation. Our results let us to attribute to emotional events, as in experimented model, the capacity to affect the biological expression that measures some immune functions, by depressing them in most of the cases, so in way to adulterate the immune equilibrium, and by setting the premises to upset the capability of immune defense in the examined persons. Our observations lead us to think that effectively, an event during which an important emotional state is induced, by upsetting the immune equilibrium, could more predispose a child (in this case the first born) to the action of pathogens.
一种特定的情感卷入可能会对一个人的身心健康产生重大影响，并在临床上明显的病症（感染、过敏、肿瘤）出现时起到辅助作用，这种可能性已成为多种假说的研究对象，且这些假说已在动物研究中得到证实。我们的研究通过考察一种不可避免且肯定自然的情况，比如头胎孩子弟弟的出生，就情感方面而言这是一种特别严峻的情况，旨在证明是否存在一些生物学表现，能够定量确定最终表明先前存在的平衡的免疫功能改变。为此，我们对三名2至3岁的头胎孩子进行了考察，他们的母亲当时正在经历第二次怀孕，考察时间约为20个月（从怀孕第三个月到弟弟14个月大），期间检测了多种表明免疫功能的生物学表现（B淋巴细胞、T淋巴细胞、NK细胞、淋巴细胞转化、趋化性、吞噬作用、C3补体成分）。在整个观察期间，这些免疫功能的演变表现并不一致。在大多数情况下，一些功能的生物学表现出现了下降变化（淋巴细胞转化、T3淋巴细胞、T4淋巴细胞、T4/T8比值、“E”玫瑰花结、趋化性和吞噬作用），而NK细胞的情况则是既有下降也有上升变化。淋巴细胞转化和“E”玫瑰花结等生物学表现的下降变化尤为重要。在两个孩子中，这些下降变化在弟弟出生前就已出现。T3和T4淋巴细胞、T4/T8比值、趋化性和吞噬作用的变化更为有限。在整个观察期间，其他检测的生物学表现（T8、B7、C3）的值均在正常范围内。我们的结果使我们能够像在实验模型中一样，将情感事件归因于影响某些免疫功能测量的生物学表现的能力，在大多数情况下通过抑制这些表现来破坏免疫平衡，并为扰乱被检测者的免疫防御能力创造前提条件。我们的观察结果使我们认为，实际上，引发重要情感状态的事件通过扰乱免疫平衡，可能会使孩子（在这种情况下是头胎）更容易受到病原体的侵袭。
