Stress Reactions Research Articles

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.

Effect of Emergency Green Channel Optimization on Ischemic Stroke Patients: Impact on Emergency Response Time, Effectiveness, Anxiety, and Acute Stress.

The aim was to assess the effectiveness of an optimized emergency green channel in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients and its effect on emergency response time, effectiveness, anxiety, and acute stress. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 349 AIS patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis from January 2019 to May 2022. The patients were divided into those who received optimized emergency green channel treatment (155) and those who did not (194). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the admission pathways, living conditions, insurance methods, and residential locations of the 2 patient groups. The key metrics comprised the times from onset to admission, admission to computed tomography (CT), CT to thrombolysis, admission to thrombolysis (door-to-needle time (DNT)), National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores at various intervals post thrombolysis, heart rate, blood pressure, and scores in Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire (SASRQ). Post PSM, 118 patients were analyzed (54 control and 64 observation). The observation group showed significantly lower time results than the control group, which included the following: the time from onset to admission (t = 31.428, P < .001), door-to-imaging time (t = 27.317, P < .001), imaging-to-needle time (t = 20.951, P < .001, and DNT (t = 25.954, P < .001). Significant differences were observed in 24 hour-post thrombolysis NIHSS scores, heart rate, blood pressure, SAS, and SASRQ scores (P < .05) but not in NIHSS scores at 7 and 30 days. The optimized emergency green channel process effectively reduced the treatment time for ischemic stroke patients, improved rescue efficiency, and positively influenced the psychological stress levels of patients post treatment.

Influences of sleep, cortisol reactivity, and risk/reward-based decision-making on suicide

Background and objectivesPoor sleep quality is a known contributor to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This study examines whether sleep quality modulates the effect of an individual's stress response and risk/reward-based decision making on suicide risk. MethodsParticipants were 160 adults at a residential substance use treatment facility with lifetime exposure to trauma who completed a clinician-administered measure of suicide risk, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and a self-report measure of sleep. Cortisol reactivity (i.e., changes in cortisol before and after a personalized trauma script) was used to measure stress response. We used quantile regression to examine the effects of sleep, cortisol, and risk/reward decision-making on suicide risk. ResultsWe found poor sleep quality to be increasingly salient in individuals at greater risk for suicide than those at lower risk for suicide. Furthermore, individuals with moderate to moderate-high levels of suicide risk seem to have greater cortisol reactivity. In the low-moderate quantile, we found suicide risk to be associated with both high stress reactivity and low-risk, high-reward decision-making, as well as low stress reactivity and high-risk/low-reward decision-making. LimitationsThese findings should be interpreted considering several methodological constraints, such as the use of a pre-determined sample and instruments not tailored for our hypotheses, the MINI ‘Suicide’ Module's limited differentiation between suicidal ideation and behavior, and variably timed cortisol sampling. ConclusionsDespite these limitations, the findings from this study support the use of evidence-based interventions focused on improving sleep quality and managing emotional reactivity to decrease suicide risk.

Alterations in food preference and stress reactivity in mice with a knockout of MeCP2 in POMC neurons

Methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is an epigenetic factor associated with the neurodevelopmental disorders Rett Syndrome and MECP2 duplication syndrome. Previous studies have demonstrated that knocking out MeCP2 globally in the central nervous system leads to an overweight phenotype and hyperphagia, however it is not clear if the hyperphagia is the result of an increased motivation to obtain food reward or enhancements in food preference. Here, we show that mice deficient in MeCP2 specifically in pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons have an increased preference for high fat diet but do not have a greater motivation to obtain food reward, relative to wildtype (WT) littermate controls. We also demonstrate that POMC-Cre MeCP2 knockout (KO) mice have increased body weight after long-term high fat diet exposure as well as elevated plasma leptin and corticosterone (CORT) levels compared to wildtype mice. Given that our POMC-Cre MeCP2 KO mice have elevated CORT, we wanted to determine if our KO mice also respond differentially to early life stress such as maternal separation stress compared to WT controls. Collectively, our data suggest that POMC-specific loss-of-function Mecp2 mutations leads to dissociable effects on the rewarding/motivational properties of food as well as changes to hormones associated with body weight homeostasis and stress and could underlie differential behavioral responses to early life stress. NIGMS 1SC1GM144190-01 (ESN), Texas Woman's University internal funds. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

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.

A qualitative analysis of an Aβ-monomer model with inflammation processes for Alzheimer's disease.

We introduce and study a new model for the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) incorporating the interactions of A -monomers, oligomers, microglial cells and interleukins with neurons through different mechanisms such as protein polymerization, inflammation processes and neural stress reactions. To understand the complete interactions between these elements, we study a spatially homogeneous simplified model that allows us to determine the effect of key parameters such as degradation rates in the asymptotic behaviour of the system and the stability of equilibrium. We observe that inflammation appears to be a crucial factor in the initiation and progression of AD through a phenomenon of hysteresis with respect to the oligomer degradation rate . This means that depending on the advanced state of the disease (given by the value of the A -monomer degradation rate : large value for an early stage and low value for an advanced stage) there exists a critical threshold of initial concentration of interleukins that determines if the disease persists or not in the long term. These results give perspectives on possible anti-inflammatory treatments that could be applied to mitigate the progression of AD. We also present numerical simulations that allow us to observe the effect of initial inflammation and monomer concentration in our model.

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.

Stress and Coping in Emergency Nurses Following Trauma Patient Care: A Qualitative Grounded Theory Approach.

Experiencing symptoms of traumatic stress may be the cost of caring for trauma patients. Emergency nurses caring for trauma patients are at risk for traumatic stress reactions. This study explored the stress and coping behaviors experienced by emergency nurses who provide trauma care. Focus groups were held at three urban trauma centers in the Midwestern United States: a Level I pediatric trauma center, a Level I adult trauma center, and a Level III adult trauma center. Data were collected between December 2009 and March 2010. Data analysis was guided by the principles of grounded theory. Line-by-line coding and constant comparative analysis techniques were used to identify recurring constructs. A total of 48 emergency nurses participated. Recurring constructs emerged in the data analysis and coding, revealing four major themes: care of the trauma patient, professional practice, personal life, and support. Nurse job engagement, burnout, and professional and personal relationships are influenced by trauma patient care. The study's resulting themes of care of the trauma patient, professional practice, personal life, and support resulted in the development of the "trauma nursing is a continual experience theory" that can be used as a framework to address these effects. Intentional support and timely interventions based on this new theory can help mitigate the effects of traumatic stress experienced by trauma nurses.

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

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

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.

Studies 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). 116 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. There 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). Negative 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.

The Determinants Of Counterproductive Work Behaviour: A Concept Paper

For the past few years, counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) cases among workforces have been on the rise. Although CWB easily goes unnoticeable in many organizations, absenteeism, sexual harassment, workplace bullying, sabotage and theft signified CWB at workplaces. Regardless of forms, CWB are harmful to the organization or fellow employees and undermine the goals and interests of a business. As present workplaces see spikes in CWB occurrences, many employers are fearful that their employees are much more likely to engage in any CWB which is why understanding the determinants of CWB is gaining importance. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model has been repeatedly used in explaining the well-being and performance of employees in occupational settings. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the JD-R model, which incorporates job demand and job resources as the determinants along with CWB as the behavioural stress reaction. This study adds value to the existing knowledge by developing a conceptual understanding that determinants of CWB at workplace is context-specific from the manufacturing industry lens. To the fact employees are an important asset in today's increasingly competitive business environment, a review of counterproductive behaviour at the workplace is deemed appropriate.

The loneliness factor in eating disorders: Implications for psychopathology and biological signatures

ObjectivesEating disorders (ED) are severe psychiatric conditions. While the biological consequences of EDs are well established, including an increase in inflammatory biomarkers, the influence of psychological factors, such as loneliness, has only recently gained attention in research. Loneliness has been associated with more severe psychopathology in ED patients, while its association with inflammatory biomarkers has only been explored in the general population. For these reasons, we aimed to investigate any possible associations between psychological features, trauma, and inflammatory biomarkers with loneliness in people with ED. MethodsThis study examined the interaction between loneliness, eating psychopathology, and biological markers in people with EDs. A group of 97 female patients with various diagnoses of ED was assessed for loneliness, general and eating psychopathology, traumatic history during childhood, and clinical biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and urinary-free cortisol (UFC). ResultsThe results indicated that individuals with ED who reported moderate to severe loneliness also displayed greater general psychopathology (p = 0.001), weight concerns (p = 0.007), and physical neglect during childhood (p = 0.006). Furthermore, people with higher levels of loneliness also had higher inflammatory indexes (ESR p = 0.001, CRP p = 0.027) and were positively correlated with markers of stress reaction such as UFC (p < 0.05). ConclusionThe findings underscore the importance of considering loneliness in the assessment of individuals with an ED. We observed notable associations between loneliness and increased psychopathology (both general and specific to eating), as well as higher levels of inflammation and childhood physical neglect. Addressing loneliness may contribute to improving overall well-being and potentially support recovery. This consideration encompasses both psychological and physical factors that interplay in the clinical presentation of individuals.

Measuring Stress in Animals By Noninvasive Methods

Stress is a biological response in the form of physiological, biochemical, hematological, and behavioral changes to internal or external stimuli that threaten the homeostasis of living beings. Effects that activate the defense system in living things are defined as stressors, and it is possible to talk about many different stress factors. Factors that cause stress can be divided into environmental, physical, social or emotional. Stress reactions, which begin with the effect of the stressor, vary according to the duration and severity of exposure to stress. In animal welfare, stress has many negative effects on organism. These negative effects may cause many problems and, shape future by adding problems such as stress and chain links in animals. Just as well-being is for humans, well-being is very important for animals. To determination of glucocorticoids or metabolites in the bloodstream of an organism under stress, noninvasive methods that provide reliable stress measurement without interfering with the organism have recently become increasingly popular. In this review article study, nineteen articles from various parts of the world were examined. In this review, measures of stress by non-invasive methods by looking at GlucoCorticoid Metabolites (GCM) and the latest developments in this field are discussed. In this review article study, nineteen articles from various parts of the world were examined. As a result of the articles reviewed, non-invasive methods for measuring stress may aid and improve our understanding of stress biology and animal welfare. Applying this method to many animal species and biological materials will provide accurate results and support animal welfare.

Environmental stress and emotional reactivity: an exploratory experience sampling method study.

Previous studies have shown a relationship between environments and mental health. However, limited studies have investigated the impact of environment stress (ES) on emotional reactivity. Our study aimed to fill this gap by examining how daily ES affects momentary emotional reactivity using experience sampling method (ESM). Participants were randomly recruited from a prospective cohort study in Hong Kong to participate in a 7-day ESM study. The participants received eight electronic signals daily assessing their ES, positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Participants were categorized into depressed group or control group based on Revised Clinical Interview Schedule. Psychometric properties of the ESM assessment were evaluated. Multilevel linear regression analyzes were conducted to examine the association of ES with PA, NA and the group status of the participants (cases versus controls). A total of 15 participants with depression and 15 healthy controls were recruited, and 1307 momentary assessments were completed with a compliance rate of 77.8%. The depressed group demonstrated a significant increase in NA in response to ES, while the control group showed a decrease in PA. In addition, the depressed group reported a lower perception of control and interaction with their environment compared to the control group. Using ESM, a valid, reliable, and easy-to-use self-reporting tool, our findings provided valuable insights on the potential mechanisms underlying emotional responses to stressful environments.

Exploring Iodide and Hydrogen Sulfide as ROS Scavengers to Delay Acute Rejection in MHC-Defined Vascularized Composite Allografts.

Vascularized composite allografts (VCA) face ischemic challenges due to their limited availability. Reperfusion following ischemia triggers oxidative stress and immune reactions, and scavenger molecules could mitigate ischemia-reperfusion injuries and, therefore, immune rejection. We compared two scavengers in a myocutaneous flap VCA model. In total, 18 myocutaneous flap transplants were performed in Major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-defined miniature swine. In the MATCH group (n = 9), donors and recipients had minor antigen mismatch, while the animals were fully mismatched in the MISMATCH group (n = 9). Grafts were pretreated with saline, sodium iodide (NaI), or hydrogen sulfide (H2S), stored at 4 °C for 3 h, and then transplanted. Flaps were monitored until clinical rejection without immunosuppression. In the MATCH group, flap survival did not significantly differ between the saline and hydrogen sulfide treatments (p = 0.483) but was reduced with the sodium iodide treatment (p = 0.007). In the MISMATCH group, survival was similar between the saline and hydrogen sulfide treatments (p = 0.483) but decreased with the sodium iodide treatment (p = 0.007). Rhabdomyolysis markers showed lower but non-significant levels in the experimental subgroups for both the MATCH and MISMATCH animals. This study provides insightful data for the field of antioxidant-based approaches in VCA and transplantation.