Short-term stress experienced at time of immunization induces a long-lasting increase in immunologic memory

2005 ◽  
Vol 289 (3) ◽  
pp. R738-R744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Firdaus S. Dhabhar ◽  
Kavitha Viswanathan

It would be extremely beneficial if one could harness natural, endogenous, health-promoting defense mechanisms to fight disease and restore health. The psychophysiological stress response is the most underappreciated of nature's survival mechanisms. We show that acute stress experienced before primary immunization induces a long-lasting increase in immunity. Compared with controls, mice restrained for 2.5 h before primary immunization with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) show a significantly enhanced immune response when reexposed to KLH 9 mo later. This immunoenhancement is mediated by an increase in numbers of memory and effector helper T cells in sentinel lymph nodes at the time of primary immunization. Further analyses show that the early stress-induced increase in T cell memory may stimulate the robust increase in infiltrating lymphocyte and macrophage numbers observed months later at a novel site of antigen reexposure. Enhanced leukocyte infiltration may be driven by increased levels of the type 1 cytokines, IL-2 and IFN-γ, and TNF-α, observed at the site of antigen reexposure in animals that had been stressed at the time of primary immunization. In contrast, no differences were observed in type 2 cytokines, IL-4 or IL-5. Given the importance of inducing long-lasting increases in immunologic memory during vaccination, we suggest that the neuroendocrine stress response is nature's adjuvant that could be psychologically and/or pharmacologically manipulated to safely increase vaccine efficacy. These studies introduce the novel concept that a psychophysiological stress response is nature's fundamental survival mechanism that could be therapeutically harnessed to augment immune function during vaccination, wound healing, or infection.

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Wesener ◽  
Britta Tietjen

ABSTRACT Organisms are prone to different stressors and have evolved various defense mechanisms. One such defense mechanism is priming, where a mild preceding stress prepares the organism toward an improved stress response. This improved response can strongly vary, and primed organisms have been found to respond with one of three response strategies: a shorter delay to stress, a faster buildup of their response or a more intense response. However, a universal comparative assessment, which response is superior under a given environmental setting, is missing. We investigate the benefits of the three improved responses for microorganisms with an ordinary differential equation model, simulating the impact of an external stress on a microbial population that is either naïve or primed. We systematically assess the resulting population performance for different costs associated with priming and stress conditions. Our results show that independent of stress type and priming costs, the stronger primed response is most beneficial for longer stress phases, while the faster and earlier responses increase population performance and survival probability under short stresses. Competition increases priming benefits and promotes the early stress response. This dependence on the ecological context highlights the importance of including primed response strategies into microbial stress ecology.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lærke Mygind ◽  
Eva Kjeldsted ◽  
Rikke Hartmeyer ◽  
Erik Mygind ◽  
Matt P. Stevenson ◽  
...  

Contact with nature is widely considered to ameliorate psychological stress, but the empirical support for a causal link is limited. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize and critically assess the evidence. Six electronic databases were searched. Twenty-six studies evaluated the difference between the effect of natural environments and that of a suitable control on the acute psychophysiological stress response. Eighteen studies were rated as being of moderate quality, 4 low quality, and 4 high quality. Meta-analyses indicated that seated relaxation (g = .5, p =.06) and walking (g = .3, p =.02) in natural environments enhanced heart rate variability more than the same activities in control conditions. Cortisol concentration measures were inconsistent. While intuitively and theoretically sound, the empirical support for acute stress-reducing effects of immersion in natural environments is tentative due to small sample sizes and methodological weaknesses in the studies. We provide guidelines for future research.


2019 ◽  
pp. 001391651987337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lærke Mygind ◽  
Eva Kjeldsted ◽  
Rikke Hartmeyer ◽  
Erik Mygind ◽  
Matt P. Stevenson ◽  
...  

Contact with nature is widely considered to ameliorate psychological stress, but the empirical support for a causal link is limited. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize and critically assess the evidence. Six electronic databases were searched. Twenty-six studies evaluated the difference between the effect of natural environments and that of a suitable control on the acute psychophysiological stress response. Eighteen studies were rated as being of moderate quality, four studies of low quality, and four studies of high quality. Meta-analyses indicated that seated relaxation ( g = .5, p = .06) and walking ( g = .3, p = .02) in natural environments enhanced heart rate variability more than the same activities in control conditions. Cortisol concentration measures were inconsistent. While intuitively and theoretically sound, the empirical support for acute stress-reducing effects of immersion in natural environments is tentative due to small sample sizes and methodological weaknesses in the studies. We provide guidelines for future research.


2016 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 128-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Puig-Perez ◽  
Carolina Villada ◽  
Matias M. Pulopulos ◽  
Vanesa Hidalgo ◽  
Alicia Salvador

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (06) ◽  
Author(s):  
I Elbau ◽  
SA Kiem ◽  
A Prosser ◽  
I Eidner ◽  
M Czisch ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 019394592110289
Author(s):  
Madison P. Goodyke ◽  
Patricia E. Hershberger ◽  
Ulf G. Bronas ◽  
Susan L. Dunn

The purpose of this integrative review is to explore and synthesize literature about the relationship between perceived social support and cardiac vagal modulation, measured by heart rate variability (HRV), during phases of an acute stress response to assess this potential relationship underlying the stress-buffering effects of perceived social support. A systematic search of seven databases was conducted, including MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Embase, ProQuest, medRxiv, and clinicaltrials.gov. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were systematically synthesized. A quality appraisal was completed for each included study. Majority of studies focused on time and frequency domain measures of HRV thought to reflect parasympathetic modulation of heart rate and identified them as positively associated with perceived social support during rest, stress induction, and recovery from an acute stressor. Results highlight the importance for nurses and other health care professionals to assess patients’ perceived social support, as increased perceived social support may contribute to an adaptive stress response.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene La Fratta ◽  
Sara Franceschelli ◽  
Lorenza Speranza ◽  
Antonia Patruno ◽  
Carlo Michetti ◽  
...  

AbstractIt is well known that soccer sport has the potential for high levels of stress and anxiety and that these are linked to Cortisol (C) variations. To date, much research has been devoted to understanding how Oxytocin (OT) can affect anxiety in response to a challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate, in 56 young male soccer players, the psychophysiological stress response 96 and 24 h before one soccer match of a tournament, in order to establish whether athletes who won or lost, show different levels of C and OT or expressions of competitive state anxiety subcomponents. We found that winners had significantly lower Cognitive anxiety and higher Self-confidence scores than losers. Also, significant differences between winners and losers in C and OT concentrations were observed, with higher OT levels in who has won and higher C levels in who has lost. Our results showed interesting associations between OT, C, anxiety feelings, and the outcome of competition.


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