01643nas a2200253   4500000000100000008004100001260007600042653003000118653002000148653001500168653002600183653002200209100002200231700001900253700001900272700001900291700001700310245007700327300001000404490000600414520094100420022001401361020001401375       1998                            d  c01/1998bSociedad Española para el Estudio de la Ansiedad y el Estrés10aAcute Experimental Stress10aCapillary Blood10aLeukocytes10aPsychoneuroimmunology10aWhite Blood Cells1 aF. Xavier Borràs1 aEva Estébanez1 aEsteve Gudayol1 aCarles Soriano1 aRamon Bayés00aAcute experimental stress and white blood cells count in capillary blood  a59-690 v43 aRecent studies in psychoneuroimmunology have shown alterations in the immune response of human subjects under acute experimental stressors. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the consequent release of catecholamines could be responsible for these changes, since catecholamines lead to transient changes in immune cells migration. The effects of acute psychological stress induced by two cognitive tasks (Stroop’s test and mental arithmetic) on white blood cells count in samples of capillary blood obtained by digital punctures were studied in 31 healthy young subjects. After the tasks, significant changes in self-reported emotional state and heart rate were observed. Nevertheless, there were not significant changes in differential leukocyte count. These results suggest that the percentage of leukocyte subpopulations in capillary blood may not be appropiate to measure the effects of an acute psychological stress.  a1134-7937  a2174-0437