Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 59, Issue 3 213-221, Copyright © 1997 by American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Chronic social stress, social status, and susceptibility to upper respiratory infections in nonhuman primates

S Cohen, S Line, SB Manuck, BS Rabin, ER Heise and JR Kaplan
Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA 15213 USA. SCOHEN@cmu.edu

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess the roles of social stress and social status in susceptibility to upper respiratory infection. METHOD: Sixty male cynomolgus monkeys were randomly assigned to stable or unstable social conditions for 15 months. Two markers of social status, social rank and percent of behaviors that were submissive, were assessed at independent observation periods. Endocrine, immune, and behavioral responses were each assessed (at 3-month intervals) during the 9th through 14th months of the study. At the beginning of the 15th month, all animals were exposed to a virus (adenovirus) that causes a common-cold-like illness. The primary outcome was whether or not an animal developed an infection (shed virus) after viral exposure. RESULTS: Although the social instability manipulation was associated with increased agonistic behavior as indicated by minor injuries and elevated norepinephrine responses to social reorganizations, the manipulation did not influence the probability of being infected by the virus. However, low social status (as assessed by either marker) was associated with a substantially greater probability of being infected. It was also associated with less body weight, greater elevated cortisol responses to social reorganizations, and less aggressive behavior. However, none of these characteristics could account for the relation between social status and infection. CONCLUSIONS: Social stress was not associated with susceptibility to infection. However, animals with lower social status were at higher risk than high social status animals.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. J. Gianaros, J. A. Horenstein, S. Cohen, K. A. Matthews, S. M. Brown, J. D. Flory, H. D. Critchley, S. B. Manuck, and A. R. Hariri Perigenual anterior cingulate morphology covaries with perceived social standing Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, September 1, 2007; 2(3): 161 - 173. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Subramanian, L. K Ackerson, M. A Subramanyam, and R. J Wright Domestic violence is associated with adult and childhood asthma prevalence in India Int. J. Epidemiol., June 1, 2007; 36(3): 569 - 579. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Gagliardi, J. R Liukkonen, K. M Phillippi-Falkenstein, R. M Harrison, and H M. Kubisch Age as a determinant of reproductive success among captive female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) Reproduction, April 1, 2007; 133(4): 819 - 826. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Cohen, M. E. Kemeny, L. S. Zegans, P. Johnson, K. A. Kearney, and D. P. Stites Immune Function Declines With Unemployment and Recovers After Stressor Termination Psychosom Med, April 1, 2007; 69(3): 225 - 234. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. B Dowd and N. Goldman Do biomarkers of stress mediate the relation between socioeconomic status and health? J Epidemiol Community Health, July 1, 2006; 60(7): 633 - 639. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. M. Sapolsky The Influence of Social Hierarchy on Primate Health Science, April 29, 2005; 308(5722): 648 - 652. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. L. Coker, S. Bond, M. M. Madeleine, K. Luchok, and L. Pirisi Psychosocial Stress and Cervical Neoplasia Risk Psychosom Med, July 1, 2003; 65(4): 644 - 651. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. K. Kiecolt-Glaser, L. McGuire, T. F. Robles, and R. Glaser Psychoneuroimmunology and Psychosomatic Medicine: Back to the Future Psychosom Med, January 1, 2002; 64(1): 15 - 28. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. L. Logan, S. Lutgendorf, H. L. Kirchner, E. M. Rivera, and D. Lubaroff Pain and Immunologic Response to Root Canal Treatment and Subsequent Health Outcomes Psychosom Med, May 1, 2001; 63(3): 453 - 462. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. A. Granger, A. Booth, and D. R. Johnson Human Aggression and Enumerative Measures of Immunity Psychosom Med, July 1, 2000; 62(4): 583 - 590. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]