Table 3.
Meta-Analysis of Immune Responses to Acute Time-Limited Stress in Healthy Participants
| Immune marker | k | N | r | SEr | 95% CI | p | Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leukocyte subset count | |||||||
| Leukocytes | 25 | 1,129 | .17 | .04 | .10, .25 | .001 | 34.61 |
| Granulocytes | 12 | 397 | .08 | .06 | minus;.04, .19 | .18 | 31.77 |
| Neutrophils | 3 | 86 | .30 | .12 | .08, .50 | .009 | 2.13 |
| Eosinophils | 3 | 81 | −.10 | .16 | −.39, .21 | .53 | 2.99 |
| Monocytes | 15 | 590 | .04 | .05 | −.05, .13 | .43 | 15.43 |
| Lymphocytes | 24 | 828 | .18 | .05 | .09, .26 | .001 | 31.77 |
| T lymphocytes | 33 | 1,452 | .07 | .03 | .01, .12 | .01 | 25.48 |
| T-helper lymphocytes | 42 | 1,678 | .01 | .03 | −.05, .05 | .86 | 23.72 |
| T-cytotoxic lymphocytes | 42 | 1,678 | .20 | .03 | .15, .25 | .001 | 34.05 |
| T-helper:T-cytotoxic ratio | 19 | 920 | −.23 | .10 | −.40, −.04 | .02 | 17.98 |
| Naive T lymphocytes | 3 | 241 | −.09 | .11 | −.29, .12 | .41 | 2.46 |
| B lymphocytes | 18 | 739 | −.07 | .04 | −.14, .01 | .08 | 16.23 |
| Activated B lymphocytes | 4 | 60 | −.15 | .14 | −.40, .14 | .31 | 0.48 |
| Natural killer cells | 41 | 1,635 | .43 | .06 | .33, .51 | .001 | 172.75*** |
| Large granular lymphocytes | 8 | 362 | .53 | .30 | .00, .83 | .05 | 165.64*** |
| Leukocyte subset percentage | |||||||
| Granulocytes | 5 | 295 | −.13 | .10 | −.31, .07 | .20 | 7.24 |
| Neutrophils | 5 | 217 | .04 | .07 | −.10, .18 | .56 | 3.75 |
| Monocytes | 7 | 277 | .06 | .09 | −.12, .23 | .55 | 10.82 |
| Lymphocytes | 7 | 350 | .06 | .06 | −.05, .16 | .30 | 1.34 |
| T lymphocytes | 10 | 497 | −.05 | .09 | −.22, .13 | .62 | 28.05*** |
| T-helper lymphocytes | 14 | 642 | −.24 | .04 | −.31, −.16 | .001 | 13.61 |
| T-cytotoxic lymphocytes | 15 | 692 | .09 | .04 | .01, .16 | .03 | 9.28 |
| B lymphocytes | 5 | 248 | −.11 | .07 | −.24, .02 | .09 | 1.46 |
| Natural killer cells | 15 | 693 | .24 | .11 | .03, .42 | .02 | 90.19*** |
| Total immunoglobulins | |||||||
| Serum IgA | 4 | 91 | .12 | .11 | −.10, .33 | .30 | 0.95 |
| Serum IgM | 3 | 67 | .14 | .13 | −.12, .37 | .30 | 0.61 |
| Secretory IgA secretion rate | 6 | 293 | .22 | .08 | .06, .37 | .008 | 6.92 |
| Secretory IgA concentration | 8 | 337 | .22 | .09 | .05, .38 | .01 | 13.05 |
| Basal cytokine levels | |||||||
| Interleukin-1β | 4 | 89 | −.01 | .11 | −.23, .21 | .91 | 0.25 |
| Natural killer cell function | |||||||
| Natural killer cell cytotoxicity | 37 | 1,398 | .30 | .05 | .20, .39 | .001 | 108.85*** |
| Per-cell cytotoxicity | 8 | 287 | .12 | .11 | −.09, .32 | .26 | 18.12* |
| Lymphocyte proliferation | |||||||
| Proliferation to ConA | 17 | 706 | −.17 | .04 | −.24, −.09 | .001 | 14.12 |
| Proliferation to PHA | 26 | 1,120 | −.17 | .04 | −.23, −.10 | .001 | 35.36 |
| Proliferation to PWM | 10 | 480 | −.10 | −.05 | −.19, −.01 | .03 | 5.84 |
| Cytokine production | |||||||
| Interleukin-1β | 3 | 78 | .01 | .12 | −.23, .23 | .98 | 5.78 |
| Interleukin-4 | 3 | 136 | −.19 | .11 | −.39, .03 | .08 | 2.38 |
| Interleukin-6 | 3 | 143 | .28 | .09 | .13, .44 | .001 | 12.84** |
| Interferon-γ | 3 | 96 | .21 | .11 | .01, .40 | .05 | 0.24 |
Note. CI = confidence interval; IgA = immunoglobulin A; IgM = immunoglobulin M; ConA = concanavalin A; PHA = phytohemagglutinin; PWM = pokeweed mitogen.
*
p < .05.
**
p < .01.
***
p < .001.