Abstract # 1807 Systematic review of studies examining the effects of acute psychological stress on circulating inflammatory markers

Abstract

Inflammatory reactivity to acute laboratory stress is thought to reflect individual differences in responsivity to environmental stressors and may confer future health risk. To characterize this response, we conducted a meta-analysis of 34 studies that measured circulating inflammatory markers before and after exposure to laboratory challenge. Results showed significant stress-related increases in interleukin(IL)-1 β (d = 0.66, CI [0.21, 1.12], p α (d = 0.28, CI [0.05, 0.51], p α . For IL-6, there was a significant increase from baseline to post-stress measures at 40–50 min, 60–75 min, 90 min, and 120 min, with the largest effect at 90 min post-stress (d = 0.70, CI [0.45, 0.95], p α , there was a significant increase from baseline to post-stress measurement at 31–50 min (d = 0.17, CI [0.10, 0.78], Z = 2.51, p = .01). There was no significant difference in magnitude of IL-6 reactivity as a function of type of stress (social-evaluative versus other). These results extend findings from a prior meta-analysis (Steptoe et al., 2007), showing reliable increases in IL-6, IL-1 β , IL-10 and TNF- α in response to acute stress. It is possible that these responses provide a pathway mediating relationships between exposure to life challenges and vulnerability to inflammatory disease.