Psychosocial factors and T lymphocyte counts in Brazilian peacekeepers

Authors

  • Angela M. Monteiro da Silva Exército Brasileiro; Forte Duque de Caxias; Centro de Estudos de Pessoal
  • Francisco A.B. Speranza Instituto de Biologia do Exército (IBEx)
  • Solange Kiyoko Ishii Instituto de Biologia do Exército (IBEx)
  • Raphael Hirata Jr Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ); Faculdade de Ciências Médicas; Imunologia e Parasitologia; Disciplina de Microbiologia
  • Ana Luíza Mattos-Guaraldi Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ); Faculdade de Ciências Médicas; Imunologia e Parasitologia; Disciplina de Microbiologia
  • Lucimar Gonçalves Milagres Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ); Faculdade de Ciências Médicas; Imunologia e Parasitologia; Disciplina de Microbiologia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2015(02)13

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between psychosocial factors and peripheral blood CD4 and CD8 T lymphocyte numbers in Brazilian peacekeepers. METHODS: Venous blood was collected from 759 peacekeepers who had just returned from a peace mission in Haiti. Among the 759 soldiers, 642 individuals completed the psychosocial measures. CD4 and CD8 T lymphocyte counts were measured by flow cytometry using a commercially available kit. Psychosocial factors, including military peace force stressors, clinical stress, anxiety and depression, were recorded. As a reference for T lymphocyte numbers, we measured T lymphocyte counts in 75 blood donors from the Instituto de Biologia do Exército, Rio de Janeiro. RESULTS: The median numbers of CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes in the blood donors were 819 cells/µl and 496 cells/µl, respectively, with a CD4:CD8 ratio of 1.6. Significantly (p<0.05) lower CD4 T cell counts (759 cells/µl) were recorded for peacekeepers, with similar CD8 levels (548 cells/µl) and smaller CD4:CD8 ratios (1.3, p<0.001) compared to blood donors. These differences were due to a group of 14 military personnel with CD4 and CD8 medians of 308 and 266 cells/µl, respectively. Only one (7.1%) of these 14 individuals was diagnosed with clinical stress compared with 13.5% of the individuals with normal levels of CD4 T lymphocytes. One individual out of 628 (0.16%) had a Lipp's Stress Symptom Inventory score of 3, indicating near exhaustion. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of psychological disorders was low and there were no associations with CD4 or CD8 T cell numbers.

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Published

2015-02-01

Issue

Section

Rapid Communication

How to Cite

Silva, A. M. M. da, Speranza, F. A., Ishii, S. K., Hirata Jr, R., Mattos-Guaraldi, A. L., & Milagres, L. G. (2015). Psychosocial factors and T lymphocyte counts in Brazilian peacekeepers . Clinics, 70(2), 152-156. https://doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2015(02)13