High psychological stress in children may alter the immune response

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event High psychological stress in children may alter the immune response Emma Carlsson1*, Anneli Frostell2, Johnny Ludvigsson3 and Maria Faresjo1 1 The Biomedinical platform, Department of Natural Science and Biomedicine, Sweden 2 Division of Pediatrics and Diabetes Research Centre, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicin, Sweden 3 Division of Psychology, Department of Behavioural science and learning, Sweden Psychological stress is a public-health issue in children and has been associated with a number of immunological diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between psychological stress and immune response in healthy children, with special focus on the insulin-producing beta-cells. Psychological stress was based on a composite measure of stress in the family across the domains: 1) serious life events; 2) parenting stress; 3) lack of social support and 4) parental worries. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), collected from five-year-old high-stressed children (n=26) and from five-year-old children without high stress within the family (n=52), from the All Babies In Southeast Sweden (ABIS)-cohort, were stimulated with antigens (tetanus toxoid and beta-lactoglobulin) and diabetes-related autoantigens (GAD65, insulin, HSP60 and IA-2). Immune markers; cytokines and chemokines, clinical parameters; C-peptide, pro-insulin and glucose; cortisol, in serum and hair, as an indicator of stress, were analysed. Results: Children from families with high psychological stress showed a low spontaneous immune activity (IL-5, -10, -13, -17, MIP-1α, MCP-1 and IP-10 (p<0.01)) but an increased immune response to tetanus toxoid and beta-lactoglobulin and the autoantigens GAD65,HSP60 and IA-2 (IL-5, -6, -10, -13, -17, IFN-γ, TNF-α, MIP-1α, MCP-1 and IP-10 (p<0.05)). Children within the high-stress group showed higher levels of cortisol, pro-insulin and C-peptide compared to the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Psychological stress may contribute to an imbalance in the immune response but also to a pathological effect on the insulin-producing beta-cells. Keywords: psychological stress, Cytokines, cortisol, Autoimmunity, Chemokines Conference: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Milan, Italy, 22 Aug - 27 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Abstract Topic: Immune-mediated disease pathogenesis Citation: Carlsson E, Frostell A, Ludvigsson J and Faresjo M (2013). High psychological stress in children may alter the immune response . Front. Immunol. Conference Abstract: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fimmu.2013.02.00238 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 14 Mar 2013; Published Online: 22 Aug 2013. * Correspondence: Miss. Emma Carlsson, The Biomedinical platform, Department of Natural Science and Biomedicine, Jönköping, Sweden, emma.carlsson@lj.se Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Emma Carlsson Anneli Frostell Johnny Ludvigsson Maria Faresjo Google Emma Carlsson Anneli Frostell Johnny Ludvigsson Maria Faresjo Google Scholar Emma Carlsson Anneli Frostell Johnny Ludvigsson Maria Faresjo PubMed Emma Carlsson Anneli Frostell Johnny Ludvigsson Maria Faresjo Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.