The Impact of Chronic Stress and Eating Concern on Acylated Ghrelin Following Acute Psychological Stress in Healthy Men

Christine Fahrngruber-Velasquez,Jürgen König,Kalina Duszka

doi:10.3390/stresses1010003

Abstract

Stress, mood, and eating behavior play an important role in appetite and weight regulation. In particular, ghrelin, as the only known orexigenic hormone, has been suggested to be an influential mediator in food intake responses to stress. The exact role of ghrelin in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is still unknown and further challenged by the psychological aspects of stress and eating behavior. This study aimed to assess the effect of chronic stress and subjective concern about eating on acute stress-induced changes in acylated ghrelin. In a 2-day study, sixteen healthy male participants were confronted with a stressful situation as well as a control situation. Additional measurements of heart rate, subjective hunger ratings, and subjective mood ratings were made to assess successful acute stress induction. The linear mixed model approach revealed a significant effect of acute stress on acylated ghrelin for a study-day*chronic-stress interaction (p < 0.001). Concern about eating did not affect acylated ghrelin levels after acute stress exposure. The significant interaction showed that lower chronic stress exposure was associated with a stronger acylated ghrelin response after acute stress exposure versus control condition. At the same time, participants with higher chronic stress exposure showed a blunted acylated ghrelin response after acute stress exposure compared to the control situation. Our findings indicate that chronic stress exposure can influence acylated ghrelin response after acute stress encounters, possibly affecting subsequent food intake and explaining the often diverse outcome in measurements of acute stress responses.

Highlights

Stress levels have been increasing over time in the Western population [1] The impact of chronic and acute psychosocial stress is known to influence perceived hunger, eating behavior, food choice, and energy intake [2,3]
Results from the Trier Inventory of Chronic Stress (TICS) analysis showed that eight participants were on the lower end (“low chronic stress”) of a normal, non-pathological chronic stress range, and eight participants were on the Stresses 2021, 1, FOR PEER REVIEW
Our findings indicate that lower chronic stress exposure gave

Summary

Introduction

Stress levels have been increasing over time in the Western population [1] The impact of chronic and acute psychosocial stress is known to influence perceived hunger, eating behavior, food choice, and energy intake [2,3]. Stress is considered as one of the common risk factors for obesity, metabolic diseases, and cancer [4,5,6]. The link between stress and food consumption is important to notice, considering the overlap between the pathways including the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis that regulate stress and feeding responses [9]. Increases in ghrelin plasma levels under acute and chronic psychosocial stress have been demonstrated in animal and human studies [12,13,14]

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