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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, 05 1997, 362-366, Vol 4, No. 3
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Phagocytosis and killing of Staphylococcus aureus: effects of stress and depression in children

JA Bartlett, MK Demetrikopoulos, SJ Schleifer and SE Keller
Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey Medical School, Newark 07103, USA.

While a large body of literature depicting relationships between depression or stress and immunity exists, few such studies have dealt with children, and none investigated myeloid cell-derived immunity. We investigated both phagocytosis and bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus in children with major depressive disorder (MDD). We found that both MDD and stress influence the bactericidal but not the phagocytic activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The data support the existence of psychobiologic effects in children and suggest possible mechanisms by which depression and stress may affect health.

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