Influences of exam stress on hematological parameters and correlations with HLA-DQB1

ObjectiveTo explore the influences of the exam stress on hematological parameters and their correlations with the phenotype of HLA-DQB1 on healthy volunteers.Methods51 students of grade two in university were selected randomly and investigate.The hematological parameters during exam preparation period and normal study period were measured respectively.HLA-DQB1 ^*02,^*03,^*04,^*05 and ^*06 alleles were individually amplified by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) using exon 2 group-specific primers and the correlation with hematological parameters were investigated.Results(1)Somatization,obsessive-compulsive,interpersonal relationship,anxiety,hostility,paranoid ideation,psychosis score and the number of positive items of SCL-90 in students during exam preparation period were significantly higher than normal(P<0.05).(2) Exam stress significantly increased with the increase of white blood cell(WBC),absolute value of neutrophil(N EU T%),percentage of neutrophil(NEUT%),absolute value of lymphocyte(LYMPH%),red blood cell(RBC),hemoglobin(HGB), haematocrit(HCT),while decreased mean corpuscular hemoglobin(MCH),mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC).(3)HLA-DQB1 ^*02 was negative correlated with NEUT% during exam preparation period and with platelet distribution width(PDW)during normal study period.HLA-DQB1 ^*03 was negative correlation with WBC during exam preparation period.HLA-DQB1 ^*04 was positive correlated with RBC,HGB,HCT and red cell distribution width-corpuscular volume(RDW2CV)during exam preparation period.HLA-DQB1 ^*05 was positive correlated with WBC,aboslute value of eosinophil(EO#)during exam preparation period and negative correlation with NEUT#during normal study period.HLADQB1^*06 was positive correlated with platelet(PLT)during exam preparation period,and with PLT,percentage of large platelet(P-LCR)during normal study period.ConclusionExam stress induces significanthematological changes and there are correlations with the alleles of HLA-DQB1.These changes are related to the measures of perceived stress.HLA-DQB1 ^*02,^*03,^*04 are stress related gene.