Meeting Abstract

S9.3  Tuesday, Jan. 6  A Hassle A Day May Keep The Pathogens Away: The Fight-Or-Flight Stress Response And The Augmentation of Immune Function DHABHAR, F.S.; Stanford University, Stanford, CA. dhabhar@gmail.com

Although stress has a deservedly bad reputation, it is important to appreciate that a psycho-physiological stress response is one of nature’s fundamental survival mechanisms. Without a fight or flight stress response, a lion has no chance of catching a gazelle, just as the gazelle has no chance of escape. Therefore, we initially hypothesized that just as the stress response prepares the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and neuroendocrine systems for fight or flight, under certain conditions, stress may also prepare the immune system for challenges (e.g. wounding or infection) that may be imposed by a stressor (e.g. predator or surgical procedure). Studies showed that short duration stressors induce a large-scale redistribution of immune cells within the body and that immune function is significantly enhanced in organs like the skin to which leukocytes traffic during acute stress. Subsequent studies identified additional mechanisms involving dendritic cell, neutrophil, macrophage, and lymphocyte trafficking, maturation, and function through which acute stressors enhance innate as well as adaptive immunity. In contrast, chronic stress dysregulates immune responses by altering the cytokine balance in favor of Type 2 cytokine-driven responses and accelerating immunosenescence, and suppresses immunity by decreasing numbers, trafficking, and function of protective immune cells while increasing regulatory/suppressor T cells. The overall goal of our research is to identify mechanisms through which natural psycho-physiological mediators may be harnessed to regulate in vivo immune function, and to use this knowledge to clinically modulate immune responses to confer maximum benefit for the patient.