Stress is known for causing innumerable health problems, and a recent study has revealed that stress can activate immune cells of human skin leading to a sensation of irritation.

People suffering from inflammatory skin condition can fall victim to irritation much easily during stress, and can lead to skin diseases.

Skin which is domain of white blood cells (WBCs) is the outer layer that protects humans from infection and inflammation. However the inflammation is attributed because of the ‘brain-skin connection’ which directly impacts the skin during stress and leads to uneasy sensation.

Researchers headed by Petra Arck of Charité, University of Medicine, Berlin and McMaster University in Canada framed a hypothesis that stress can make things worse leading to skin diseases by increasing the amount of immune cells present in the skin.

To confirm the hypothesis an experiment was done in which mice were the subjects and they were exposed to sound stress. The research team found that the stress produced more number of mature WBCs in the skin. To counteract this effect, two proteins namely LFA-1 and ICAM-1 those of which attracted the immune cells to the skin were blocked in order to cease the increase in WBCs in skin.  

To conclude the findings, the stress initiates activity in immune cells resulting into development of skin diseases. The report will be published in the November issue of The American Journal of Pathology.