Authors: Ellard, D.R.¹; Barlow, J.H.¹; Mian, R.²

Source: Stress and Health, Volume 21, Number 4, October 2005 , pp. 245-253(9)

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract:

Twenty-eight undergraduates participated in a 12-month (one academic year) study and were tested on six occasions to examine the effects of perceived stress on the activity of neutrophils. The six testing periods were selected to encompass variation in academic typical experiences over 1 year. At each time point, participants gave a small finger-stick sample of blood before completing standard measure of perceived stress and health. Activity of neutrophils was determined from the whole bloods' capacity to reduce nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT) and was presented as percentage of NBT positive cells. Results showed that there were significant correlations between perceived stress levels and NBT positive cells (p < 0.05) at all six testing periods, with surprisingly large effects size. Further analysis (Fisher's Z averaging analysis) revealed the robust nature of this association. In addition, there were significant correlations between NBT positive cells and participants' current state of health on three of the six occasions: generally, as perceived stress increased the percentage of NBT positive neutrophils increased and health status decreased. The results support the hypothesis that stress may affect the activity of neutrophils, which in turn may influence health. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: perceived stress; neutrophils; health status; nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT) test; academic stress

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smi.1061

Affiliations: 1: Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Health, School of Health and Social Sciences. Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK 2: Physiology Research Group, School of Science and the Environment, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK

Publication date: 2005-10-01

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