Social Stress Disorders and Immunity.

This article reviews recent developments in psychoneuroimmunology concerning the relationships between social-stress disorders and the immune system as well as their clinical consequences. In addition, studies exploring the impact of stress-reducing interventions on clinical course of some immunopathological conditions are presented. The analysis suggests that social stress disorders in different situations have the influence on the quantity and activity of immune cells and may lead to the shift of balance between proinflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokine secretion. However, the type and the size of these effects, their clinical implications in diseases with impaired immunity and the therapeutic benefit of interventions reducing stress remain uncertain and need further research.