Psychological stress‐factors and concentrations of immunoglobulins and complement components in humans

Abstract

Relationships between two types of occupational stress, one chronic and one acute, and plasma immunoglobulin and complement components were measured. The first group comprised female primary school teachers ( N =40) subjected to long‐lasting work stress. The second group comprised male merchant navy students ( N =38) subjected to a series of short‐lasting fear‐inducing 20 meter drops in a life boat specially built for rescue operations from oil platforms. Significant correlations were found between personality factors, immunoglobulins and complement components in the teacher group, but not amongst the merchant navy students. For the teachers, personality traits correlated negatively with concentrations of IgA and IgG. IgM concentrations correlated with the more immediate work‐related problems reported by the teachers. In a multiple regression analysis, psychological factors explained between 32% (IgM) and 15% (IgG) of the interindividual variance, when sex, age and job seniority and employment factors were controlled for. Psychological factors may therefore, at least on longlasting occupational stress groups, correlate with immune processes. The data support the concept of the importance for psychological factors in immunological function.