Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1994 Jul;13(4):291-8.
doi: 10.1037//0278-6133.13.4.291.

Chronic stress, social support, and persistent alterations in the natural killer cell response to cytokines in older adults

B A Esterling  1 , J K Kiecolt-Glaser, J C Bodnar, R Glaser
Affiliations

Chronic stress, social support, and persistent alterations in the natural killer cell response to cytokines in older adults

B A Esterling et al. Health Psychol. 1994 Jul.

Abstract

To address the long-term physiological consequences of chronic stressors, 14 continuing or current family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, 17 former AD caregivers, and 31 control subjects were compared. Continuing and former caregivers did not differ on depressive symptomatology or perceived stress; both groups were significantly more depressed and stressed than controls. Furthermore, continuing and former caregivers did not differ in the response of NK cells in vitro to recombinant interferon-gamma and recombinant interleukin-2, and both groups had a significantly poorer response to these cytokines than controls. The physiological and psychological consequences of chronic stressors may persist well beyond the cessation of the actual stressor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types