Stress Reactions Research Articles

Can fertilization of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) with potassium sulfate cause oxidative stress in the plants?

AbstractBackgroundPotatoes are regarded very prone to chloride toxicity, and the application of sulfate‐based potassium fertilizers is therefore recommended. However, in several studies, no significant differences between KCl and K2SO4 on tuber yield and starch concentration were found. In addition, plant shoots occasionally showed more pronounced stress symptoms after sulfate compared to chloride treatment.AimsThis study aimed to identify reasons for enhanced stress occurrence of potato plants after K2SO4 instead of KCl fertilization.MethodsWe conducted a pot experiment with the potato cultivar Marabel, which showed to be chloride‐resistant in our previous study, and applied 1 g K or 2 g K either as K2SO4 or KCl. Plant shoots were analyzed for nutrients, sugars, and antioxidative capacity shortly before start of flowering (intermediate harvest), and tubers were harvested at physiological maturity and their starch concentration and yield were determined.ResultsWith sulfate‐based K fertilization, the start of flowering and ripening as well as the achievement of physiological maturity occurred earlier than with KCl supply. However, the accelerated development of K2SO4‐treated plants did not affect shoot fresh and dry mass shortly before flowering and at maturity, showing similar values as in the KCl treatment. With 2 g K as K2SO4, the potato plants produced much larger and less than half the number of tubers compared to 2 g K as KCl, resulting in a significantly reduced tuber fresh mass. Tuber starch concentration as well as starch yield per plant were not significantly affected by the kind of K fertilization. In plant shoots shortly before flowering, calcium and magnesium concentrations were significantly decreased, combined with a significant increase in antioxidative capacity after application of 2 g K as K2SO4 compared to KCl. Sugar concentrations and contents in potato shoots at flowering were mostly unaffected by the kind of K fertilizer.ConclusionsStronger toxicity symptoms and growth inhibition after sulfate compared to chloride application, combined with a significant increase in antioxidative capacity, provide evidence for sulfate‐induced oxidative stress. A higher production of organic anions such as succinate may be involved in the stress reaction. This needs to be investigated in more detail in further studies.

NF-κB pathway as a molecular target for curcumin in diabetes mellitus treatment: Focusing on oxidative stress and inflammation.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a collection of metabolic disorder that is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. Recent studies have demonstrated the crucial involvement of oxidative stress (OS) and inflammatory reactions in the development of DM. Curcumin (CUR), a natural compound derived from turmeric, exerts beneficial effects on diabetes mellitus through its interaction with the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway. Research indicates that CUR targets inflammatory mediators in diabetes, including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), by modulating the NF-κB signaling pathway. By reducing the expression of these inflammatory factors, CUR demonstrates protective effects in DM by improving pancreatic β-cells function, normalizing inflammatory cytokines, reducing OS and enhancing insulin sensitivity. The findings reveal that CUR administration effectively lowered blood glucose elevation, reinstated diminished serum insulin levels, and enhanced body weight in Streptozotocin -induced diabetic rats. CUR exerts its beneficial effects in management of diabetic complications through regulation of signaling pathways, such as calcium-calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), NF-κB, and transforming growth factor β1 (TGFB1). Moreover, CUR reversed the heightened expression of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-6) and chemokines like MCP-1 in diabetic specimens, vindicating its anti-inflammatory potency in counteracting hyperglycemia-induced alterations. CUR diminishes OS, avert structural kidney damage linked to diabetic nephropathy, and suppress NF-κB activity. Furthermore, CUR exhibited a protective effect against diabetic cardiomyopathy, lung injury, and diabetic gastroparesis. Conclusively, the study posits that CUR could potentially offer therapeutic benefits in relieving diabetic complications through its influence on the NF-κB pathway.

Quercetin Ameliorates Myocardial Injury in Diabetic Rats by Regulating Autophagy and Apoptosis through AMPK/mTOR Signaling Pathway.

A high-glucose environment is involved in the progression of diabetes mellitus (DM). This study aims to explore the regulatory effects of quercetin (QUE) on autophagy and apoptosis after myocardial injury in rats with DM. The type 2 DM rat models were constructed using low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) treatment combined with a high-carbohydrate (HC) diet in vivo. Compared with the control group, the body weight was decreased, whereas blood pressure, blood glucose, and the LVW/BW ratio were increased in the diabetic group. The results showed that the myocardial fibers were disordered in the diabetic group. Moreover, we found that the myocardial collagen fibers, PAS-positive cells, and apoptosis were increased, whereas the mitochondrial structure was destroyed and autophagic vacuoles were significantly reduced in the diabetic group compared with the control group. The expression levels of autophagy-related proteins LC3 and Beclin1 were decreased, whereas the expression levels of P62, Caspae-3, and Bax/Bcl-2 were increased in the diabetic group in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, QUE treatment alleviated the cellular oxidative stress reaction under high-glucose environments. The results of immunoprecipitation (IP) showed that the autophagy protein Beclin1 was bound to Bcl-2, and the binding capacity increased in the HG group, whereas it decreased after QUE treatment, suggesting that QUE inhibited the binding capacity between Beclin1 and Bcl-2, thus leading to the preservation of Beclin1-induced autophagy. In addition, the blood pressure, blood glucose, and cardiac function of rats were improved following QUE treatment. In conclusion, QUE suppressed diabetic myocardial injury and ameliorated cardiac function by regulating myocardial autophagy and inhibition of apoptosis in diabetes through the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway.

Resilient Stress Reactivity Profiles Predict Mental Health Gains from Online Contemplative Training: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Low-dose app-based contemplative interventions for mental health are increasingly popular, but heterogeneity in intervention responses indicates that a personalized approach is needed. We examined whether different longitudinal resilience–vulnerability trajectories, derived over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, predicted differences in diverse mental health outcomes after mindfulness and socio-emotional dyadic online interventions. The CovSocial project comprised a longitudinal assessment (phase 1) and an open-label efficacy trial (phase 2). A community sample of 253 participants received 12 min daily app-based socio-emotional dyadic or mindfulness-based interventions, with weekly online coaching for 10 weeks. Before and after the intervention, participants completed validated self-report questionnaires assessing mental health. Stress reactivity profiles were derived from seven repeated assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020 to March/April 2021) and were categorized into resilient (more plasticity) or vulnerable (less plasticity) stress recovery profiles. After both interventions, only individuals with resilient stress reactivity profiles showed significant improvements in depression symptomatology, trait anxiety, emotion regulation, and stress recovery. Those with vulnerable profiles did not show significant improvements in any outcome. Limitations of this study include the relatively small sample size and potential biases associated with participant dropout. Brief app-based mental interventions may be more beneficial for those with greater levels of stress resiliency and plasticity in response to stressors. More vulnerable individuals might require more intense and personalized intervention formats.

Pain of Threatened Self: Explicit and Implicit Self-Esteem, Cortisol Responses to a Social Threat and Pain Perception.

Background: Rejection, injustice, and exclusion from meaningful interpersonal relationships are often extremely painful and stress-generating experiences. This study aimed to define the role of explicit and implicit self-esteem in pain perception as a component of the physiological-psychological system that regulates the body's response to stress associated with the threat of social rejection. Methods: In total, 360 individuals participated in this study. The measurement of cortisol in saliva, the assessment of pain thresholds using thermal stimuli, the IAT to assess implicit self-esteem, and a questionnaire on global self-esteem and social pain were used. The study included three measurements: baseline and 15 and 45 min after the application of a laboratory socially threatening stimulus (the Trier Social Stress Test). Results: People experiencing chronic social pain (CSP) are more likely to have fragile self-esteem, higher pain thresholds, and tend to experience reduced pain tolerance in situations of acute social threat than people without CSP experience. In people with CSP and fragile self-esteem, after the introduction of a social threat, an increase in pain tolerance was observed along with a longer-lasting increase in cortisol levels. Conclusions: Fragile self-esteem, along with feelings of chronic exclusion, injustice, and rejection, may prolong stress reactions and produce a hypoalgesic effect.

The Role of Human Resource Manager and Work Stress Management in An Organization

There is almost one reason behind a number of problems in an employee's life, and that is stress. Many authors define stress in their own way. Workplace stress is an attention-seeking phenomenon in this modern word. It is not just a word but a feeling that affects an individual physically, mentally, emotionally and behaviorally. Work stress is influenced by three different concepts, which are stressors, stress reaction, stress post-effect. The stress post-effect includes positive stress (eustress) and negative stress (distress). Both play a different role in the concept of stress. Stressor aspects that make an employee experience stress, such as a new project, goals, deadlines, new opportunity, extra work hours, employer expectations, interpersonal relationships, co-worker disputes, etc. are stressors. Various initiatives are taken in the organization and strategies are made by the employees and the employer to overcome this inevitable problem and make the employees more comfortable and efficient. HRM plays an important role in this. The study focuses on measures and keys to overcome stress with the role of HRM.

Associations between housing and psychological damage by earthquake and modifiable risk factors for dementia in general older adults: Tohoku Medical Megabank community-based cohort study.

To evaluate the association between housing and psychological damage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) and modifiable risk factors (MRFs) of dementia for general population of older adults. This cross-sectional study enrolled 29 039 community-dwelling older adults (mean age 69.1 ± 2.9 years, 55.5% women). We evaluated disaster-related damage (by complete or not complete housing damage) and psychological damage (by post-traumatic stress reaction [PTSR]) after the GEJE using a self-report questionnaire. MRFs encompassed the presence of depression, social isolation, physical inactivity, smoking, and diabetes. We examined the association between disaster-related damage and MRFs using ordinary least squares and modified Poisson regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and health status variables. Complete housing damage and PTSR were identified in 2704 (10.0%) and 855 (3.2%) individuals, respectively. The number of MRFs was significantly larger for the individuals with complete housing damage (β = 0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.19-0.27) and PTSR (β = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.53-0.67). Prevalence ratios (PRs) for depression and physical inactivity were higher in individuals with complete housing damage. The PRs for all domains of the MRFs were significantly higher in individuals with PTSR. Housing and psychological damage caused by the GEJE were associated with an increased risk factor of dementia. To attenuate the risk of dementia, especially among older victims who have experienced housing and psychological damage after a disaster, multidimensional support across various aspects of MRFs is required. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; ••: ••-••.

Abstract PO1-12-02: Impact of Discontinuation of Denosumab on Bone Health in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract Denosumab (Dmab), an inhibitor of osteoclast activity and proliferation is approved for treatment of women on aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy for early breast cancer (60 mg Q 6-months) and metastatic disease (120 mg Q 4-weeks) to protect against bone loss and prevention of skeletal-related events (SREs). 60 mg given twice a year has shown fracture reduction, especially in women on aromatase inhibitor therapy, and recent data supports benefits in disease free survival, bone-metastasis free-survival and overall survival with Dmab in early breast cancer. It appears superior in reduction of SREs versus zoledronic acid (ZA) in established skeletal metastatic disease; thus, a preferred choice in the oncology setting. In the osteoporosis setting, withdrawal of Dmab therapy leads to a “rebound” increase of bone resorption, rapid bone loss and potential vertebral fractures. Increased risk of spontaneous and multiple vertebral fractures has been seen in this patient population. To prevent this, after discontinuation of Dmab, the addition of another anti-resorptive such as ZA is initiated. Dmab withdrawal events are uncommonly reported in patients with metastatic skeletal disease due to generally poor prognosis. Dmab given as 120 mg/month in this setting may need to be curtailed for a variety of indications including hypocalcemia, major dental procedures, osteonecrosis of the jaw or atypical femoral fracture. In the oncologic setting, it is unclear if discontinuation of Dmab will lead to rebound bone resorption or increased incidence of fractures. We describe the case is of a 32-year-old woman with a history of T2N3M1, oligometastatic breast cancer (solitary bone metastases at L1, biopsy-proven) that was ER/PR/HER2 positive. She was treated with neoadjuvant trastuzumab, pertuzumab, taxotere and carboplatin followed by bilateral mastectomy, and radiation to chest wall and L1. She received total estrogen blockade initially with GnRH-agonist and exemestane and ultimately bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy plus exemestane. She continues pertuzumab and trastuzumab (80 treatments to date) for the past 5 years and denosumab 120 mg/month for 14 treatments and then every 3 months, 20 total treatments. Development of hip pain (regular runner) and concern for atypical fracture vs metastatic disease led to bone scan and PET/CT. Metastatic disease was ruled out and stress reaction was diagnosed. Dmab therapy was discontinued with monitoring of her metabolic bone turnover. 1 year after her last Dmab injection, bone turnover markers began to increase and ultimately demonstrated a very significant “rebound phenomenon.” Subsequently, a single dose of 120 mg denosumab decreased bone markers to previously low levels which remain low on routine monitoring, table below. In future, ZA will be initiated and continued on a yearly basis. Dmab has replaced ZA in managing bone health in breast cancer patients. Many oncologists use this without the assistance of bone health endocrinologists, who are an integral part of our cancer center. Bone modifying agents are often discontinued without consideration of the negative impact this may have. As this is a major survivorship issue, we document this case with literature review, to raise awareness for oncologists prescribing these medications. Citation Format: Susan Tannenbaum, Alvaro Alvarez Soto, Pamela Taxel. Impact of Discontinuation of Denosumab on Bone Health in Breast Cancer Patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO1-12-02.

Long-term effects of Preweaning environmental impoverishment on neurobehavioral and neurocognitive outcomes in Sprague Dawley rats: An early environmental stress model

Developmental stress, including low socioeconomic status (SES), can induce dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and result in long-term changes in stress reactivity. Children in lower SES conditions often experience more stress than those in other SES groups. There are multiple model systems of early environmental stress (EES), one of which is reduced cage bedding. Here we tested the effects of both prenatal and lactational EES in rats on a range of long-term behavioral and cognitive outcomes. There were persistent reductions in body weight in the EES rats in both sexes. The behavioral results showed no effects on learning and memory using tests of spatial learning or cognitive flexibility in the Morris water maze, egocentric learning in the Cincinnati water maze, or working memory in the radial-arm maze. There were no effects on basic open-field activity, elevated zero-maze, or forced swim test, but EES rats had reduced time in the dark side of the light/dark test. When rats were drug challenged in the open-field with d-amphetamine or MK-801, there were no differential responses to d-amphetamine, but the EES group under responded compared with the drug-induced hyperactivity in the control group in both males and females. The objective was to establish a developmental stress model that induced cognitive deficits and to the extent that this method did not cause such effects it was not the model we sought. However, the data showed several long-term effects of EES, including the reduced response to the irreversible NMDA antagonist MK-801. This effect merits further investigation.

Monoamine Oxidase: A Potential Link in Papez Circuit to Generalized Anxiety Disorders.

Anxiety is a common mental illness that affects a large number of people around the world, and its treatment is often based on the use of pharmacological substances such as benzodiazepines, serotonin, and 5-hydroxytyrosine (MAO) neurotransmitters. MAO neurotransmitters levels are deciding factors in the biological effects. This review summarizes the current understanding of the MAO system and its role in the modulation of anxiety-related brain circuits and behavior. The MAO-A polymorphisms have been implicated in the susceptibility to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in several investigations. The 5-HT system is involved in a wide range of physiological and behavioral processes, involving anxiety, aggressiveness, stress reactions, and other elements of emotional intensity. Among these, 5-HT, NA, and DA are the traditional 5-HT neurons that govern a range of biological activities, including sleep, alertness, eating, thermoregulation, pains, emotion, and memory, as anticipated considering their broad projection distribution in distinct brain locations. The DNMTs (DNA methyltransferase) protein family, which increasingly leads a prominent role in epigenetics, is connected with lower transcriptional activity and activates DNA methylation. In this paper, we provide an overview of the current state of the art in the elucidation of the brain's complex functions in the regulation of anxiety.

Neural Correlates of Stress and Alcohol Cue-Induced Alcohol Craving and of Future Heavy Drinking: Evidence of Sex Differences.

Stress and alcohol cue reactivity are associated with poor treatment outcomes in alcohol use disorder (AUD), but sex-specific neural correlates of stress and alcohol cue-induced craving compared with neutral cue-induced craving and of heavy drinking outcomes in AUD have not been examined. Thus, this study prospectively examined these associations and assessed sex differences. Treatment-seeking adults with AUD (N=77; 46 men and 31 women) completed a functional MRI task involving stress, alcohol, and neutral cue exposure with repeated assessments of alcohol craving. Most of these participants (N=72; 43 men and 29 women) then participated in an 8-week standardized behavioral AUD treatment program, during which the percentage of heavy drinking days was assessed. Significant increases in both stress and alcohol cue-induced craving relative to neutral cue-induced craving were observed, with a greater alcohol-neutral contrast in craving relative to the stress-neutral contrast among men and equivalent stress-neutral and alcohol-neutral contrasts in craving among women. Whole-brain voxel-based regression analyses showed craving-associated hyperactivation in the neutral condition, but hypoactive prefrontal (ventromedial and lateral prefrontal, supplementary motor, and anterior cingulate regions) and striatal responses during exposure to stressful images (stress-neutral contrast) and alcohol cues (alcohol-neutral contrast), with significant sex differences. Additionally, a higher percentage of heavy drinking days was associated with hypoactivation of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the stress-neutral contrast among women, hyperactivation of the hypothalamus in the stress-neutral contrast among men, and hyperactivation of the hippocampus in the alcohol-neutral contrast among men. Sex differences in stress- and alcohol cue-induced responses in the cortico-striatal-limbic network related to subjective alcohol craving and to heavy drinking indicated that distinct brain circuits underlie alcohol use outcomes in women and men. These findings underscore the need for sex-specific therapeutics to address this neural dysfunction effectively.

Production and oxidative stress responses in a cage designed for creep-feeding lambs

This research aims to assess the production and oxidative stress reactions of lambs fed in a specially designed cage for creep feeding. For this purpose, the Akkaraman lambs (n = 60) were separated into four groups (15 individuals by two sexes and two groups), and all were fed the same ration. On the days that all the data was collected, the lambs were precisely 20, 34, 48, and 62 days old. The study included collecting data on body weights, body measures, and saliva samples from lambs. When the change in body weight was investigated, the results indicated that the differences between caged creep and control feeding groups (P = 0.343) and among the groupings concerning gender (P = 0.735) were insignificant. The importance levels of change differences in body measurements based on feeding methods and gender are withers height: P = 0.003, P = 0.198; body length: P < 0.001, P = 0.394; pectoral chest width: P = 0.030, P = 0.906; chest depth: P < 0.001, P = 0.741; chest circumference: P = 0.093, P = 0.529; back length: P = 0.221, P = 0.935; head length: P = 0.004, P = 0.072 and head width: P = 0.112, P = 0.617 calculated. The study's saliva samples, the effects were examined, and significant differences in Malondialdehyde (P = 0.014), superoxide dismutase (P = 0.029), catalase (P < 0.001), and glutathione s-transferase (P = 0.001) were discovered between control feeding and caged creep feeding methods. In ischemia-modified albumin (P > 0.05), the difference between the groups was insignificant. According to these findings, caged creep feeding systems are preferable for achieving faster growth rates in Akkaraman lambs; however, caged creep feeding techniques in bigger areas with longer periods are considered better for welfare conditions.

Study on the role and mechanism of Tan IIA in Alzheimer’s disease based on CREB-BDNF-TrkB pathway

The occurrence and development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is closely related to neuronal loss, inflammatory response, cholinergic imbalance, and Tau protein hyperphosphorylation. Previous studies have confirmed that Streptozotocin (STZ) can be used to establish a rat model of AD by injecting it into the rat brain via the lateral ventricle. Our previous research showed that Danshentone IIA (Tan IIA) can improve cognitive dysfunction in rats caused by CC chemokine ligand 2, and network pharmacology results show that Tan IIA is very likely to improve AD symptoms through the cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein (CREB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and tyrosine kinase receptor protein (TrkB) pathway. The results of the water maze experiment showed that after Tan IIA treatment, the escape latency of AD rats was shortened and the number of platform crossings increased; in the new object recognition experiment, the discrimination index of AD rats significantly increased after treatment; Nissl staining and Tunel staining results showed that Tan IIA increased the number of surviving neurons in the hippocampus of cognitively impaired rats and reduced neuronal apoptosis; Bielschowsky silver staining results showed that Tan IIA reduced neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the AD rats; Tan IIA can reduce the inflammatory response and oxidative stress reaction in the hippocampus of AD rats, and at the same time reduce the activity of acetylcholinesterase. Tan IIA can significantly increase the expression of CREB, BDNF, TrkB in the hippocampal tissue of STZ-injured rats (P < 0.05). These data suggest that Tan IIA may upregulate the expression of the CREB-BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway in the hippocampus of brain tissue, produce anti-neuroinflammatory, antioxidant stress, inhibit neuronal apoptosis effects, and improve cholinergic neurotransmitter disorder induced by STZ, reduce the neuronal damage and learning and memory impairment caused by STZ in rats, and improve the cognitive function of rats.

WHAT ABOUT THIS?: Quick Somatic Rescue Techniques when Stressed

When threats are perceived, our thoughts and body respond almost immediately with defense reactions that may negatively affect us and others we know. Described are approaches that can interrupt negative stress responses and allow us to become calmer and less reactive by utilizing a set of somatic and breathing practices that assist in raising self-awareness as well as moderating the triggers and interrupting the cascades of stress reactions. Each of the specific practices can be introduced quickly, even in situations in which mental health first aid is indicated. For example, the practices introduce the S.O.S 1™ technique, an adapted Nyingma stress reduction exercise, and several breathing exercises, such as box breathing, sniff and sniff breathing, humming, and toning. The various practices are aimed at reducing or stopping over-reactive thoughts and body responses as well as increasing a sense of safety and control that allows you to think more clearly about difficult situations.

Neural correlates of stress-reactive rumination in depression – the role of childhood trauma and social anxiety

Recent work showed an association of prefrontal dysfunctions in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and social stress induced rumination. However, up to date it is unclear which etiological features of MDD might cause prefrontal dysfunctions. In the study at hand, we aimed to replicate recent findings, that showed prefrontal activation alterations during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and subsequently increased stress-reactive rumination in MDD compared to healthy controls. Moreover, we aimed to explore the role of adverse childhood experiences and other clinical variables in this relationship. N=55 patients currently suffering from MDD and n=42 healthy controls (HC) underwent the TSST, while cortical activity in areas of the cognitive control network (CCN) was measured via functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The TSST successfully induced a stress reaction (physiologically, as well as indicated by subjective stress ratings) and state rumination in all subjects with moderate to large effect sizes. In comparison to HC, MDD patients showed elevated levels of state rumination with large effect sizes, as well as a typical pattern of reduced cortical oxygenation during stress in the CCN with moderate effect sizes. Self-reported emotional abuse and social anxiety were moderately positively associated with increased stress-reactive rumination. Within the MDD sample, emotional abuse was negatively and social anxiety positively associated with cortical oxygenation within the CCN with moderate to large effect sizes. In conclusion, our results replicate previous findings on MDD-associated hypoactivity during stress and extends the research toward specific subtypes of depression.

Testing an Intervention to Improve Health Care Worker Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.

Stress First Aid is an evidence-informed peer-to-peer support intervention to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of health care workers (HCWs). To evaluate the effectiveness of a tailored peer-to-peer support intervention compared with usual care to support HCWs' well-being at hospitals and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cluster randomized clinical trial comprised 3 cohorts of HCWs who were enrolled from March 2021 through July 2022 at 28 hospitals and FQHCs in the US. Participating sites were matched as pairs by type, size, and COVID-19 burden and then randomized to the intervention arm or usual care arm (any programs already in place to support HCW well-being). The HCWs were surveyed before and after peer-to-peer support intervention implementation. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis was used to evaluate the intervention's effect on outcomes, including general psychological distress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The peer-to-peer support intervention was delivered to HCWs by site champions who received training and subsequently trained the HCWs at their site. Recipients of the intervention were taught to respond to their own and their peers' stress reactions. Primary outcomes were general psychological distress and PTSD. General psychological distress was measured with the Kessler 6 instrument, and PTSD was measured with the PTSD Checklist. A total of 28 hospitals and FQHCs with 2077 HCWs participated. Both preintervention and postintervention surveys were completed by 2077 HCWs, for an overall response rate of 28% (41% at FQHCs and 26% at hospitals). A total of 862 individuals (696 females [80.7%]) were from sites that were randomly assigned to the intervention arm; the baseline mean (SD) psychological distress score was 5.86 (5.70) and the baseline mean (SD) PTSD score was 16.11 (16.07). A total of 1215 individuals (947 females [78.2%]) were from sites assigned to the usual care arm; the baseline mean (SD) psychological distress score was 5.98 (5.62) and the baseline mean (SD) PTSD score was 16.40 (16.43). Adherence to the intervention was 70% for FQHCs and 32% for hospitals. The ITT analyses revealed no overall treatment effect for psychological distress score (0.238 [95% CI, -0.310 to 0.785] points) or PTSD symptom score (0.189 [95% CI, -1.068 to 1.446] points). Post hoc analyses examined the heterogeneity of treatment effect by age group with consistent age effects observed across primary outcomes (psychological distress and PTSD). Among HCWs in FQHCs, there were significant and clinically meaningful treatment effects for HCWs 30 years or younger: a more than 4-point reduction for psychological distress (-4.552 [95% CI, -8.067 to -1.037]) and a nearly 7-point reduction for PTSD symptom scores (-6.771 [95% CI, -13.224 to -0.318]). This trial found that this peer-to-peer support intervention did not improve well-being outcomes for HCWs overall but had a protective effect against general psychological distress and PTSD in HCWs aged 30 years or younger in FQHCs, which had higher intervention adherence. Incorporating this peer-to-peer support intervention into medical training, with ongoing support over time, may yield beneficial results in both standard care and during public health crises. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04723576.

Profiles of childhood trauma: epidemiological survey results of an educated young community cohort

Background: Childhood trauma is a major threat to the welfare and prosperity of any society. Young adult population is vulnerable due to increasing adverse childhood experiences and the likelihood of serious implications in educational performance and mental health. This survey was aimed to observe the proportion of various types of childhood traumas and their association with different socio-demographic characteristics among young university students of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 young university students, during August-December 2023. Initially, cluster sampling was done deemed to the epidemiological survey. Afterwards, from the selected clusters, students from different universities were approached using non-probability convenient sampling technique. Self-reported data were collected through a questionnaire comprising of socio-demographic characteristics along with the types of traumas experienced during their childhood. SPSS Version 26.0 was used to analyse data. Results: Of the 300 university students with a mean age of 22.14±2 years, 55.3% were females. Overall, 63.6% of the participants experienced trauma before 18 years age. The most common trauma types reported were physical/verbal abuse (81%), unlawful touch/sexual abuse (45%), parents separated/divorced (31%) abandoned by parents (20%), lived with an alcoholic/drug addict (18%) or with a mentally ill adult (14%). There were no statistically significant findings between childhood trauma experience and socio-demographic traits. Conclusions: Various profiles of childhood trauma were found prevalent in young university level individuals. Current research does suggest a way forward to prevent this public health issue that can have detrimental consequences on an individual’s mental and physical health and stress reactivity.

Blunted stress reactivity as a mechanism linking early psychosocial deprivation to psychopathology during adolescence

Blunted stress reactivity as a mechanism linking early psychosocial deprivation to psychopathology during adolescence

Daily-life stress reactivity and recovery following virtual-reality-based cognitive behavioral therapy in patients with a psychotic disorder

IntroductionStudies have consistently demonstrated increased stress sensitivity in individuals with psychosis. Since stress sensitivity may play a role in the onset and maintenance of psychosis, this could potentially be a promising target for treatment. The current study was the first to investigate whether reactivity to and recovery from daily-life stressors in psychosis change in response to treatment, namely virtual-reality-based cognitive behavioral therapy (VR-CBT).Methods116 patients were randomized to either VR-CBT or the waiting list control group (WL). Pre-treatment and post-treatment participants completed a diary ten times a day during six to ten days. Multilevel analyses were used to model the time-lagged effects of daily stressful events on negative affect (NA) and paranoia symptoms to examine reactivity and recovery.ResultsThere was a significant difference in NA reactivity. VR-CBT showed higher NA at post-treatment compared to pre-treatment than WL (bpre=0.14; bpost=0.19 vs bpre=0.18; bpost=0.14). There was a significant difference in NA recovery and paranoia recovery between the groups at lag 1: VR-CBT showed relatively lower negative affect (bpre=0.07; bpost=-0.06) and paranoia (bpre= 0.08; bpost=-0.10) at post-treatment compared to pre-treatment than WL (bpre=0.08; bpost=0.08; bpre=0.04; bpost=0.03).ConclusionNegative affect and paranoia recovery improved in response to treatment. Increased NA reactivity may be explained by a decrease in safety behavior in the VR-CBT group. The discrepancy between reactivity and recovery findings may be explained by the inhibitory learning theory that suggests that an original threat reaction may not erase but can be inhibited as a consequence of exposure therapy.

Combination of Dasatinib and Quercetin alleviates heat stress-induced cognitive deficits in aged and young adult male mice

ObjectiveDasatinib and quercetin (D & Q) have demonstrated promise in improving aged-related pathophysiological dysfunctions in humans and mice. Herein we aimed to ascertain whether the heat stress (HS)-induced cognitive deficits in aged or even young adult male mice can be reduced by D & Q therapy. MethodsBefore the onset of HS, animals were pre-treated with D & Q or placebo for 3 consecutive days every 2 weeks over a 10-week period. Cognitive function, intestinal barrier permeability, and blood-brain barrier permeability were assessed. ResultsCompared to the non-HS young adult male mice, the HS young adult male mice or the aged male mice had significantly lesser extents of the exacerbated stress reactions, intestinal barrier disruption, endotoxemia, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, blood-brain barrier disruption, hippocampal inflammation and oxidative stress, and cognitive deficits evaluated at 7 days post-HS. All the cognitive deficits and other syndromes that occurred in young adult HS mice or in aged HS mice were significantly attenuated by D & Q therapy (P < 0.01). Compared to the young adult HS mice, the aged HS mice had significantly (P < 0.01) higher severity of cognitive deficits and other related syndromes. ConclusionsFirst, our data show that aged male mice are more vulnerable to HS-induced cognitive deficits than those of the young adult male mice. Second, we demonstrate that a combination of D and Q therapy attenuates cognitive deficits in heat stressed aged or young adult male mice via broad normalization of the brain-gut-endotoxin axis function.