Genetic variation in the stress response: susceptibility to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and implications for human inflammatory disease.

Glucocorticoids that are released from the adrenal glands in response to stress can have profound effects on the immune system. Here, Don Mason illustrates how genetic variation in the magnitude of such a response can determine susceptibility to an experimental autoimmune disease in rats and discusses the implications for susceptibility to inflammatory diseases in humans. He also addresses the possible long-term effects of glucocorticoids on the balance between the cell-mediated and the humoral aspects of immunity and how this balance may influence the temporal development of an immune reaction.