Changes in immune and psychological measures as a function of anticipation and reaction to news of HIV-1 antibody status

We assessed changes in psychological and immunological functioning during 5-week periods preceding and following notification of serostatus among gay males taking the HIV-1 antibody test. Forty-six asymptomatic homosexual men between the ages of 18 and 40 yrs were recruited from a gay men's organization and through advertisements in a local newspaper. Measures of cell-mediated immunity (lymphocyte phenotypic markers, mitogen responsivity, and natural killer cell cytotoxicity) and psychological functioning (state anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and avoidant behaviors) were obtained at baseline, five weeks later and 72 hr before serostatus notification, and 1 week, 3 weeks and 5 weeks postnotification. Results suggested a dissociation between psychological and immunological phenomena among seropositives wherein lymphocyte proliferative responses to the mitogens phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) remained unchanged in the face of significant increases in state anxiety and intrusive thoughts following serostatus notification. These findings suggested that asymptomatic HIV-1 infected individuals, even at the earliest stages of infection, may be unable to mount an immune response to potent psychosocial stressors (i.e., serostatus notification), due perhaps, to the fact that the viral contribution to immune functioning overrides any influence of environmental stimuli. Among the seronegative subjects studied, blastogenic responses to PHA and PWM were depressed at baseline (relative to a group of age and gender-matched controls who were not undergoing HIV-1 antibody testing) but PHA values returned to normal values 5 weeks later. Natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and CD4+CD45R+ inducer cell counts appeared to parallel these changes in seronegatives. Seropositives did display fluctuations in NK cell cytotoxicity that were similar to those noted for seronegatives. Correlational analyses suggested that individual differences in anxiety responses at the time of notification of seropositivity predicted subsequent (1-week lag) declines in NK cell cytotoxicity but not other functional markers. Although most seropositives displayed clinical levels of anxiety, intrusive thoughts and avoidant responses during the week of serostatus notification, these measures returned to their initial nonclinical baseline levels within 5 weeks after notification in both the seropositive and seronegative groups

Antibody · Anxiety · Asymptomatic · Biology · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) · Immune system · Lymphocyte · Pokeweed mitogen · Psychiatry · Serostatus · Viral load · Immunology · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Psychology · Tryptophan and brain disorders

• An Historical and Critical Review of the Articles on Blood Pressure Published in Psychosomatic Medicine Between 1939 and 1997

  Bernard T Engel•Psychosomatic Medicine•1998

  Incluir item

• Stress, emotion, and human immune function

  Ann O''Leary, Ann O’leary et al.•Psychological Bulletin•1990

  Incluir item

• Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress

  Suzanne C Segerstrom, Shelley E Taylor et al.•Journal of Personality and Social…•1998

  Incluir item

• Time Perspective as a Potential Tool for Psychotherapeutic Intervention

  Open Access•Janet Konefal, Robert Duncan et al.•Psychological Reports•2006

  Incluir item

• Hiv / Aids

  Open Access•Michael P Carey, Lori A J Scott-Sheldon et al.•Handbook of Psychology, Second…•2012

  Incluir item

• Studies in Psychoneuroimmunology

  David Weiss, David W Weiss et al.•Behavioral Medicine•1996

  Incluir item

• Time Perspective as a Potential Tool for Psychotherapeutic Intervention

  Janet Konefal•Psychological Reports•2006

  Incluir item

• Distress and coping among women with HIV infection

  Mark S Kaplan, Gary Marks et al.•American Journal of Orthopsychiatry•1997

  Incluir item

• Stress-induced modulation of the immune response to recombinant hepatitis B vaccine

  Ronald Glaser, Janice K Kiecolt-Glaser et al.•Psychosomatic Medicine•1992

  Incluir item

• Nature and consequences of stressful life events in homosexual HIV-positive men

  K H Nott, Kavita Vedhara•AIDS Care•1999

  Incluir item

• Sympathoimmune Anomalies Underlying the Response to Stressful Challenge in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Spectrum Disease

  Barry E Hurwitz, Kimberly A Brownley et al.•Psychosomatic Medicine•2005

  Incluir item

• Psychoneuroimmunology and Psychosomatic Medicine

  Janice K Kiecolt-Glaser, Lynanne McGuire et al.•Psychosomatic Medicine•2002

  Incluir item

• Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Intrusive Thoughts, Loss, and Immune Function after Hurricane Andrew

  Gail Ironson, Christina Wynings et al.•Psychosomatic Medicine•1997

  Incluir item

• Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Delivered to Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Positive Patients in Iran

  SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi, Sara Jam et al.•Psychosomatic Medicine•2012

  Incluir item

• Lack of Association of Psychosocial Variables with Natural Killer Cell Activity in a Native Hawaiian Population

  Open Access•Jon Streltzer, William C Rezentes et al.•Transcultural Psychiatry•2000

  Incluir item

• Psychological impact of predicting individuals’ risks of illness

  Open Access•Chris Shaw, Keith Abrams et al.•Social Science & Medicine•1999

  Incluir item

• Phenomenology of HIV-1

  Open Access•Michael H Antoni•The Counseling Psychologist•1991

  Incluir item

• Critical Delays in HIV Testing and Care

  Open Access•Margaret A Chesney, Ashley Smith et al.•American Behavioral Scientist•1999

  Incluir item

• Psychological Stress and the Human Immune System

  Suzanne C Segerstrom, Gale E Miller et al.•Psychological Bulletin•2004

  Incluir item

• Psychological Distress, Coping, and Disease Progression in HIV-positive Homosexual Men

  Olav Vassend, Anne Eskild•Journal of Health Psychology•1998

  Incluir item

• A positive affect intervention for people experiencing health-related stress

  Open Access•Judith Tedlie Moskowitz, Jen R Hult et al.•Journal of Health Psychology•2012

  Incluir item