We synthesised evidence on biological correlates of psychological stress in hospital-based healthcare professionals, and examined whether there was evidence of consistent biological changes. Electronic databases were searched for empirical studies; 16 articles (0.6%) met the inclusion criteria. Evidence of a relationship between indices of psychological stress and biological parameters was limited and inconsistent. There was some evidence of a consistent relationship between natural killer cells and lymphocyte subpopulations. Considerable heterogeneity in the methods used was seen. Future prospective studies examining the relationship between indices of psychological stress and natural killer cells, including lymphocyte subsets, is required.
Stress alters the oxidant-antioxidant state and immune cell responses which disrupts its function to combat infection. Blastocystis hominis, a common intestinal protozoan has been reported to be opportunistic in immunocompromised patients namely cancer. B. hominis infectivity in other altered immune system conditions especially stress is unknown. We aimed to demonstrate the stress effects towards the susceptibility and pathogenicity of B. hominis infection.