T cell immunity and caregiving stress in young and older caregivers
File(s)
Author(s)
Vitlic, Ana
Lord, Janet M
Arlt, Wiebke
Oliver, Christopher
Phillips, Anna C
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: The present study aimed to examine the impact of caregiving stress and aging on parameters of T cell immunity using caregivers and controls across two age cohorts.
Methods: Seventy-nine young and older caregivers (parents of children with developmental disabilities and spousal dementia caregivers, respectively) were compared to 76 non-caregiving controls. Participants completed questionnaires to provide information about socio-demographics, health behaviour, psychosocial and caregiving variables, and provided a blood sample. T cell senescence and exhaustion markers, thymic output, and serum CMV antibody titre were assessed.
Results: Despite greater psychological morbidity (greater depression, anxiety, perceived stress) than controls, caregivers showed robust immunity for most T cell parameters with the exception of KLRG-1 (marker involved in T cell senescence pathway).
Conclusions: A higher percentage of KLRG1+ T cells in caregivers could explain the poorer vaccination response that has previously been reported in this group. These data also suggest that the impact of caregiving per se on immunity is not uniform.
Methods: Seventy-nine young and older caregivers (parents of children with developmental disabilities and spousal dementia caregivers, respectively) were compared to 76 non-caregiving controls. Participants completed questionnaires to provide information about socio-demographics, health behaviour, psychosocial and caregiving variables, and provided a blood sample. T cell senescence and exhaustion markers, thymic output, and serum CMV antibody titre were assessed.
Results: Despite greater psychological morbidity (greater depression, anxiety, perceived stress) than controls, caregivers showed robust immunity for most T cell parameters with the exception of KLRG-1 (marker involved in T cell senescence pathway).
Conclusions: A higher percentage of KLRG1+ T cells in caregivers could explain the poorer vaccination response that has previously been reported in this group. These data also suggest that the impact of caregiving per se on immunity is not uniform.
Date Issued
2015-02-23
Date Acceptance
2015-01-28
Citation
Healthy Aging Research, 2015, 4
ISSN
2261-7434
Publisher
Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Journal / Book Title
Healthy Aging Research
Volume
4
Copyright Statement
© 2015 Vitlic et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
10.12715/har.2015.4.15
Subjects
AGE
ALTERS
CHILDREN
CYTOMEGALOVIRUS-INFECTION
DEVELOPMENTAL-DISABILITIES
E-CADHERIN
Geriatrics & Gerontology
IMMUNOSENESCENCE
KLRG1
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
POOR ANTIBODY-RESPONSE
Science & Technology
THYMIC FUNCTION
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
15
Date Publish Online
2015-02-23