Stress, Coping, and Infectious Illness: Persistently Low Natural Killer Cell Activity as a Host Risk Factor.

摘要

In recent studies of 'low natural killer (NK) cell syndrome, 'low NK activity was measured in individuals who were symptomatic, and therefore a casual relationship between low NK activity and infectious or other disease manifestations could not be concluded However, preliminary work by members of our collaborative team, provided some indications for chronic low NK activity preceding and predicting subsequent infectious morbidity. This present study was designed to address this casual question in a larger sample, using a longitudinal design. Subjects were 106 healthy normal volunteers from the community. They were examined medically and psychosocially at baseline, and were then followed over a six month interval, with serial monthly assessment over the study period. The results supported our hypothesis that individuals who were currently healthy, but who exhibited a pattern of natural immunity characterized by persistently low NK cytotoxicity would be at risk for development of infectious sequelae over a six-month follow-up period.