Lymphocyte subset redistribution in response to acute experimental stress: effects of gender, ethnicity, hypertension, and the sympathetic nervous system.

This study examined demographic and adrenergic characteristics associated with enumerative immune responses to acute laboratory stress. Lymphocyte subsets and plasma catecholamines were measured in 110 subjects at rest and following a naturalistic speaking stressor. Lymphocyte beta 2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity and density were measured at rest. The speaking task caused marked increase in natural killer cells, T-suppressor/cytotoxic cells, total WBC, norepinephrine, and epinephrine and decreases in T-helper cells, B cells and the T-helper/suppressor ratio. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that, in general, cellular immune responses were best predicted by a combination of lower basal norepinephrine, higher beta 2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity, and a greater stress-induced increase in norepinephrine. The findings suggest that traditional epidemiologic characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and mild hypertension have limited influence on lymphocytosis. Rather, interindividual differences in sympathetic nervous system characteristics play a more prominent underlying role in acute cellular immune system activation.