Abstract
BackgroundAs stress occurs repetitively every day, the biological modifiers should also have enough time to restore the normal state of hemostasis; otherwise, chronic stress would be anticipated. The aim of the present study was to examine the persistence of stress based on subjective emotion, salivary cortisol, and linear and non-linear features of heart rate variability (HRV) in both genders.MethodsThirty-three healthy young volunteers (23 men and 10 women) participating in this study were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Moreover, the emotional visual analog scale (EVAS), salivary cortisol, and ECG recording in the rest state were taken before and after TSST as well as 20 min after recovery.ResultsAccording to the results of the two-way mixed model ANOVA, all volunteers showed a significant increase in EVAS after TSST which was restored to the baseline state after recovery. Notably, the women’s base of cortisol was significantly higher than men and the standard range of kit. Cortisol elevation was only observed in the men, and the significant increase of LF/HF ratio was observed in the women, while both did not retain to the baseline after recovery. The SD1 of Poincaré plot and spectral entropy decreased after stress in both genders. Moreover, there was a significant negative correlation between baseline level of cortisol and its elevation due to stress and some features of HRV.ConclusionThe base of cortisol played a critical role in modifying the physiological response to stress. In addition, after recovery, no stressful emotion remained, while the non-linear features of HRV did not return to baseline.
Highlights
As stress occurs repetitively every day, the biological modifiers should have enough time to restore the normal state of hemostasis; otherwise, chronic stress would be anticipated
The aim of the study was to compare genders in terms of the persistent response to stress based on the self-report, emotional visual analog scale (EVAS), salivary cortisol, and heart rate variability (HRV) linear or non-linear indices
The increase of sympathetic tone based on the power frequency of HRV and low frequency (LF)/High frequency (HF) ratio was only observed in the women after stress, which remained 20 min after recovery
Summary
As stress occurs repetitively every day, the biological modifiers should have enough time to restore the normal state of hemostasis; otherwise, chronic stress would be anticipated. The aim of the present study was to examine the persistence of stress based on subjective emotion, salivary cortisol, and linear and non-linear features of heart rate variability (HRV) in both genders. Stress activates two axes concurrently, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic-adrenal medullary (SAM). The activation of HPA leads to the increase of cortisol in body fluids, and the activation of SAM increases the heart rate [37]. The Triet Social Stress Test (TSST) as a model of psychological acute stress is a real condition that happens several times in a lifespan. Several factors might affect the elevation of cortisol occurring through the activation of HPA axis during and after acute stress [8]. Individuals under stress can be divided into responder and non-responder to stress based on the change of cortisol. The reason of responding or not responding to stress due to the change of cortisol is not yet clear
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