Measures of Self-Report, Urinary Catecholamines, and Salivary Immunoglobulin-A in Victims of Chronic Stress.

摘要

The present investigation was conducted to examine relationships among self-reports of health, urinary catecholamines, and salivary i immunoglobulin A in victims of chronic stress. Previous research has identified markers of stress in samples of individuals living near the damaged nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island and a group living adjacent to a toxic waste site in Delaware . Comparisons were made on demographically matched subjects from TMI, DEL, and a sample of controls from Frederick, Maryland. Chronic stress consequences have been noted over 2 years after the TMI accident and eighteen months after DEL residents were informed of toxic waste threat. This study was not concerned with harmful exposure, but focused upon responses to environmental threat. It was hypothesized that THI and DEL subjects relative to controls would exhibit increased self-report of symptoms, elevations in urinary catecholamines, and a reduction of a-lgA concentration. Since s-IgA protects against bacterial and viral invasion, it was thought that lowered immunoglobulin among TMI and DEL subjects would yield a possible explanation for enhanced susceptibility to infection in these groups.