Natural killer cell activity in adolescents with major depression.

An increasingly large body of work in adults has shown that derangements in the immune system, a critical protector from disease, are associated with stress, bereavement, and depression (for review, see Schleifer et al 1986, Calabrese et al 1987). We (Kronfol et al 1989) and others (Mohl et al 1987; Nerozzi et al 1989; Irwin et al 1990) have reported lower natural killer (NK) cell activity, a parameter of immune function directed against virus-infected or tumor cells (Herberman and Ortaido 1981), in adults with major depression. Other investigators, however, found no difference in NK cell activity between depressed adults and controls (Schleifer et al 1989). The current study compares NK cell activity in depressed adolescent inpatients a n d a o # . n n d ~ o Y . m ~ t t ' h e d n o r m a ! r n n f r n k