Acute stress decreases inflammation at the site of infection: A role for nitric oxide

Exposure to acute stress modulates immune function. Most research regarding stress and immunity has described the deleterious effects of stress. Recent studies, however, indicate that acute stress enhances many features of innate immunity. For example, exposure to acute stress reduced the time required to resolve inflammation produced by subcutaneous injection of streptomycin-killed, benign bacteria. It is unclear if this change in inflammation would be advantageous to the organism if challenged with living, infectious bacteria. Thus, the current experiments examined the effect of acute stressor exposure on inflammation development and resolution after a naturalistic, live bacterial challenge. In addition, nitric oxide (NO), an important bactericidal mediator, was measured at the inflammatory site. Rats (F344) were exposed to acute stress (100, 5-s, 1.6 mA tailshocks) and subcutaneously injected with live Escherichia coli (similar to2.5 x 10(9) colony forming units [CFU]). Stressed rats attained their peak inflammatory size quicker, resolved their inflammation 10 - 14 days faster, experienced less bacterial-induced weight loss and released 300% greater NO at the inflammatory site than nonstressed controls. Thus, acute stress improved recovery from bacterially induced inflammation possibly due to local elevations in NO. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.