Abstract
This research assessed differences in DNA repair in lymphocytes from high-and low-distressed individuals. A median split on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Scale 2 divided 28 newly admitted nonpsychotic psychiatric inpatients into high- and low-distress subgroups. The high-distress subgroup had significantly poorer DNA repair in lymphocytes exposed to X-irradiation than low-distress subjects. We also found that lymphocytes obtained from this psychiatric sample had significantly poorer DNA repair than lymphocytes from nonpsychiatric control subjects when compared 5 hr after X-irradiation. A high level of distress therefore appears to be associated with significant dysfunctional differences at the molecular level which may have important implications for health. These data provide evidence for a direct pathway through which distress could influence the incidence of cancer.
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This research was funded in part by General Molecular Applications, Inc., the Bremer Foundation, the Samuel J. Roessler Fund, and Comprehensive Cancer Center Core Grant CA-16068-09.
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Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., Stephens, R.E., Lipetz, P.D. et al. Distress and DNA repair in human lymphocytes. J Behav Med 8, 311–320 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00848366
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00848366