Abstract
ObjectiveExposure to early-life adversity (ELA) can result in long-term changes to physiological systems, which predispose individuals to negative health outcomes. This biological embedding of stress-responsive systems may operate via dysregulation of physiological resources in response to common stressors. The present pilot study outlines a novel experimental design to test how young adults’ exposure to ELA influences neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses to acute stress.Materials and methodsParticipants were 12 males (mean age = 21.25), half of whom endorsed at least three significant adverse events up to age 18 years (‘ELA group’), and half who confirmed zero (‘controls’). Using a randomized within-subjects, between-groups experimental design, we induced acute psychosocial stress (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST), and included a no-stress control condition one week apart. During these sessions, we obtained repeated measurements of physiological reactivity, gene expression of the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1), and plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TNFα) over a 4-hour window post-test.ResultsIn this pilot study, the ELA group evinced higher cortisol response and blunted NR3C1 gene expression in response to the TSST compared with controls, while no differences were observed in the no-stress condition. For pro-inflammatory cytokines, only IL-6 increased significantly in response to the TSST, with no differences between the two groups.ConclusionOverall, this pilot feasibility study provides a framework to investigate the biological embedding of early-adversity via dysregulation across physiological and genomic systems in response to acute psychosocial stress. ELA may program such systems in a maladaptive manner more likely to manifest during times of duress, predisposing individuals to the negative health consequences of everyday stressors. Future studies with larger sample size including both males and females are needed to replicate and expand upon these preliminary findings.
Highlights
An ever-growing body of research suggests that early-life adversity (ELA) can program biological systems, which predispose individuals to later-life physical and mental-health problems [1, 2]
The ELA group evinced higher cortisol response and blunted NR3C1 gene expression in response to the TSST compared with controls, while no differences were observed in the no-stress condition
This pilot feasibility study provides a framework to investigate the biological embedding of early-adversity via dysregulation across physiological and genomic systems in response to acute psychosocial stress
Summary
An ever-growing body of research suggests that early-life adversity (ELA) can program biological systems, which predispose individuals to later-life physical and mental-health problems [1, 2]. Similar findings have been reported in individuals exposed to ELA without such diagnoses [7, 8] This programming, in turn, can result in mitochondrial dysfunction, failure to down-regulate the inflammatory response and overall metabolic stress, thereby increasing circulatory levels of lipids, glucose, oxidants, and proinflammatory cytokines [9, 10]. What is less clear is how target immune cells respond to stress in vivo as a consequence of ELA, via rapid gene expression regulation [15, 16] This new knowledge can provide insights into an integrated and dynamic cellular regulatory system whose signal profiles could forecast disease risk associated with early adversity [17,18,19]
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