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Psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and cellular immunity among healthy individuals: a 1-year prospective

Akinori Nakata1, Masahiro Irie, Masaya Takahashi

  • 1National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, OH, USA. nakataa-tky@umin.ac.jp, cji5@cdc.gov

International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology
|July 12, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Psychological distress and depression predict lower natural killer (NK) cell counts in healthy employees. However, NK cell counts did not predict subsequent psychological distress or depressive symptoms, indicating a one-way relationship.

Area of Science:

  • Psychoneuroimmunology
  • Cellular immunology
  • Mental health research

Background:

  • Previous studies suggest a link between psychological distress/depression and reduced immune function.
  • The directionality of this relationship, whether mental health affects immunity or vice versa, remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To prospectively examine the relationship between psychological distress and depressive symptoms and changes in lymphocyte subsets (NK, B, T cells) over one year.
  • To determine if changes in immune markers predict subsequent psychological distress or depressive symptoms.

Main Methods:

  • A 1-year prospective study involving 105 healthy employees.
  • Measurement of lymphocyte subsets (NK, B, T cells) and psychological distress (GHQ-28) and depressive symptoms (CES-D) at two time points.
  • Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess predictive relationships, controlling for confounders.

Main Results:

  • Higher scores on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) at baseline predicted lower natural killer (NK) cell counts one year later.
  • Natural killer (NK) cell counts and cytotoxicity at baseline did not predict subsequent psychological distress or depressive symptoms.
  • No significant associations were found between psychological distress/depressive symptoms and T or B cell counts.

Conclusions:

  • Psychological distress and depressive symptoms may precede and contribute to the suppression of NK cell immunity in healthy individuals.
  • The findings suggest a unidirectional relationship where mental health status influences NK cell immunity, rather than a bi-directional effect.
  • This study highlights the impact of psychological factors on specific immune cell populations, particularly NK cells.

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