Natural killer (NK) cell activity and NK cell subsets in workers with a tendency of burnout

The involvement of cellular immunity in the burnout syndrome remains to be elucidated. We assessed three components of burnout of the Maslach Burnout Inventory: emotional exhaustion; depersonalization (DP); and personal accomplishment, as well as natural killer cell activity (NKCA) and NK cell subsets in 42 male workers. Workers with a higher DP score showed a lower NKCA and a lower proportionality of CD57⁺CD16⁺ to total lymphocytes. There were no differences in any of the health behaviors (e.g., smoking, alcohol, or obesity) between workers showing higher burnout and those showing lower burnout. A stepwise multiple regressions analysis demonstrated that NKCA was closely correlated with DP, independent of other variables, including a stress index. These results suggest that the relationship between reduced cellular immunity and DP is not due to traditional work stress or health behavioral problems. Further studies on DP as a psychosomatic disorder as well as an occupational health problem should be performed in the future.