Optimization Times for Measuring Stress-Induced Immunodepression at the Secreted IL2 and Secreted IL4 Level of the Immune Response.

Immunodepression has been reported as stress-induced. The detection of this immuno-depression is possible through the measurement of the levels of secreted interleukin-2 (IL2) and interleukin-4 (IL4) found in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). These cells were collected from the blood by Ficoll-Paque centrifugation and resuspended in an isotonic medium, Hanks Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS). The measurement of the secreted IL2 and secreted IL4 was performed by a BioE bead flow cytometric method. Capture beads coated with antiIL2 or antiIL4 were added to the supernatant to bind with the IL2 and IL4 present in the supernatant. With the addition of a labeled reporter body, the intensity of the fluorescence was plotted on a standard curve. This enabled the calculation (pg) of the secreted cytosine. The optimum time for the binding of antiIL2 to the IL2 and antiIL4 to the IL4 was determined to be twenty hours, but these results require further experimentation due to the small number of controls. After this, additional studies can be performed as to whether immunodepression is stress-induced.

Salem Wolk
South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics