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EXCLI Journal 2017Any intrinsic or extrinsic stimulus that evokes a biological response is known as stress. The compensatory responses to these stresses are known as stress responses.... (Review)
Review
Any intrinsic or extrinsic stimulus that evokes a biological response is known as stress. The compensatory responses to these stresses are known as stress responses. Based on the type, timing and severity of the applied stimulus, stress can exert various actions on the body ranging from alterations in homeostasis to life-threatening effects and death. In many cases, the pathophysiological complications of disease arise from stress and the subjects exposed to stress, e.g. those that work or live in stressful environments, have a higher likelihood of many disorders. Stress can be either a triggering or aggravating factor for many diseases and pathological conditions. In this study, we have reviewed some of the major effects of stress on the primary physiological systems of humans.
PubMed: 28900385
DOI: 10.17179/excli2017-480 -
Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology Nov 2018Mammalian cells respond to stress by activating mechanisms that support cellular functions and hence maintain microenvironmental and organismal homeostasis.... (Review)
Review
Mammalian cells respond to stress by activating mechanisms that support cellular functions and hence maintain microenvironmental and organismal homeostasis. Intracellular responses to stress, their regulation and their pathophysiological implications have been extensively studied. However, little is known about the signals that emanate from stressed cells to enable a coordinated adaptive response across tissues, organs and the whole organism. Considerable evidence has now accumulated indicating that the intracellular mechanisms that are activated in response to different stresses - which include the DNA damage response, the unfolded protein response, mitochondrial stress signalling and autophagy - as well as the mechanisms ensuring the proliferative inactivation or elimination of terminally damaged cells - such as cell senescence and regulated cell death - are all coupled with the generation of signals that elicit microenvironmental and/or systemic responses. These signals, which involve changes in the surface of stressed cells and/or the secretion of soluble factors or microvesicles, generally support systemic homeostasis but can also contribute to maladaptation and disease.
Topics: Animals; Cellular Microenvironment; Cellular Senescence; Homeostasis; Humans; Signal Transduction; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 30305710
DOI: 10.1038/s41580-018-0068-0 -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Apr 2020Stressful experiences can be transmitted among individuals through social interactions. Like humans, rodents are social creatures whose behavior and physiology can be... (Review)
Review
Stressful experiences can be transmitted among individuals through social interactions. Like humans, rodents are social creatures whose behavior and physiology can be influenced by the emotional state of fellow rodents. This paper will review rodent studies which have explored two conditions of potential social stress contagion using the social defeat paradigm. In the vicarious social defeat model, mice and rats that witness a conspecific being socially defeated exhibit physiological stress responses and develop a host of depressive- and anxiety-like behavioral deficits. Likewise, social interaction with a stressed partner in the aftermath of social defeat stress results in physiological stress responses and social avoidance behavior. After summarizing the existing literature on this newly emerging area of social defeat stress contagion in rodents, we will discuss the potential utility of these rodent models for investigating the neurobiological processes and sensory channels of information that allow for the spread of psychophysiological effects of stress across individuals.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Empathy; Mice; Rats; Social Defeat; Social Interaction; Stress, Physiological; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 31931035
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.011 -
Acta Endocrinologica (Bucharest,... 2019Many negative effects of stress regarding cognitive performances and gastrointestinal habits were previously reported in both animal models and human participants.
CONTEXT
Many negative effects of stress regarding cognitive performances and gastrointestinal habits were previously reported in both animal models and human participants.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to compare perceived stress levels with declared gastrointestinal habits changes in a small cohort of college students during academic acquisition and evaluation periods.
DESIGN
College students were recruited and divided into two groups: the control group evaluated during the acquisition period of the academic year and the stressed group evaluated during the examination period.
SUBJECT AND METHODS
The students' psychological and gastrointestinal status was evaluated using a common stress questionnaire and a gastrointestinal habits survey.
RESULTS
Our results showed increased perceived stress in college students during stressful conditions, as compared to lesser demanding periods. Similarly, more than 40%of the participants declared that gastrointestinal habits changes occurred during stressful periods. We observed significant correlations between the perceived stress levels and gastrointestinal habits changes.
CONCLUSION
This small-sized survey study showed that the occurrence of the stressful event in young adults recorded higher perceived stress scores and frequent functional gastrointestinal symptoms, as compared to the lower stressful periods. Also, we showed that functional gastrointestinal symptoms are rather common and could be regarded as a negative response to stress.
PubMed: 31508190
DOI: 10.4183/aeb.2019.274 -
Advances in Medical Education and... 2021Stress among nursing students has been widely investigated across the globe, and evidence suggests that nursing programs are stressful. Students from resource...
PURPOSE
Stress among nursing students has been widely investigated across the globe, and evidence suggests that nursing programs are stressful. Students from resource constrained contexts, such as Malawi, often find it difficult and over stressing to be socialized into the nursing profession. However, this area has not been adequately investigated in Malawi. The aim of the study was to investigate stress and its coping strategies among nursing students in Malawi.
METHODS
This was a quantitative study which used a descriptive cross-sectional design that included 102 students in years 2, 3 and 4. Data were collected using the adapted standard tools (Perceived Stress Scale and Adaptive Version of the Nurse Stress Scale) to comprehensively measure levels of stress categorised as clinical, academic and external. The brief Cope was used to measure common coping strategies. Independent samples test and ANOVA were run at 5% level of significance to analyze the data.
RESULTS
Moderate levels of stress were perceived by this sample. Academic category contributed to more stress than clinical and external sources. Lecturers, clinical teachers and nursing staff were the major contributors of stress among students. Similarly, high levels of stress were found among year 2 and self-sponsored students. In terms of coping strategies, active coping and planning were the common coping strategies. However, substance use was also recorded as a coping strategy.
CONCLUSION
The study revealed that although nursing students face various challenges in under-resourced environments, teachers and clinical staff highly contribute towards stress. It was then established that stress among nursing students' can be contained by initiating stress reduction interventions. There is also need to further investigate the extent of substance use as it suggests that some students have not been able to cope with current stress levels hence resorting to use of substances.
PubMed: 34093050
DOI: 10.2147/AMEP.S300457 -
Current Research in Physiology 2021Prolonged pharmacological interventions have detrimental health consequences by developing drug tolerance or drug resistance, in addition to adverse drug events. The... (Review)
Review
Prolonged pharmacological interventions have detrimental health consequences by developing drug tolerance or drug resistance, in addition to adverse drug events. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-related stress has adversely affected the emotional and mental health aspects around the globe. Consequently, depression is growing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides specific pharmacological interventions, which if prolonged have detrimental health consequences, non-pharmacological interventions are needed to minimize the emotional burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Laughter therapy is a universal non-pharmacologic approach to reduce stress and anxiety. Therapeutic laughter is a non-invasive, cost-effective, and easily implementable intervention that can be used during this pandemic as a useful supplementary therapy to reduce the mental health burden. Laughter therapy can physiologically lessen the pro-stress factors and increase the mood-elevating anti-stress factors to reduce anxiety and depression. In this ongoing stressful period of the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping necessary social distancing, it is important to create a cheerful environment that will facilitate laughter among the family, neighbor, and community to cope with the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic.
PubMed: 34642668
DOI: 10.1016/j.crphys.2021.04.002 -
Seminars in Cancer Biology Nov 2020Cancer cells encounter numerous stresses that pose a threat to their survival. Tumor microenviroment stresses that perturb protein homeostasis can produce endoplasmic... (Review)
Review
Cancer cells encounter numerous stresses that pose a threat to their survival. Tumor microenviroment stresses that perturb protein homeostasis can produce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which can be counterbalanced by triggering the unfolded protein response (UPR) which is considered the canonical ER stress response. The UPR is characterized by three major proteins that lead to specific changes in transcriptional and translational programs in stressed cells. Activation of the UPR can induce apoptosis, but also can induce cytoprotective programs such as autophagy. There is increasing appreciation for the role that UPR-induced autophagy plays in supporting tumorigenesis and cancer therapy resistance. More recently several new pathways that connect cell stresses, components of the UPR and autophagy have been reported, which together can be viewed as non-canonical ER stress responses. Here we review recent findings on the molecular mechanisms by which canonical and non-canonical ER stress responses can activate cytoprotective autophagy and contribute to tumor growth and therapy resistance. Autophagy has been identified as a druggable pathway, however the components of autophagy (ATG genes) have proven difficult to drug. It may be the case that targeting the UPR or non-canonical ER stress programs can more effectively block cytoprotective autophagy to enhance cancer therapy. A deeper understanding of these pathways could provide new therapeutic targets in cancer.
Topics: Animals; Autophagy; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress; Humans; Neoplasms; Signal Transduction; Unfolded Protein Response
PubMed: 31838023
DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2019.11.007 -
PloS One 2015Although plasma corticosterone is considered the main glucocorticoid involved in regulation of stress responses in rodents, the presence of plasma cortisol and whether...
Although plasma corticosterone is considered the main glucocorticoid involved in regulation of stress responses in rodents, the presence of plasma cortisol and whether its level can be used as an indicator for rodent activation of stress remain to be determined. In this study, effects of estrous cycle stage, circadian rhythm, and acute and chronic (repeated or unpredictable) stressors of various severities on dynamics and correlation of serum cortisol and corticosterone were examined in mice. A strong (r = 0.6-0.85) correlation between serum cortisol and corticosterone was observed throughout the estrous cycle, all day long, and during acute or repeated restraints, chronic unpredictable stress and acute forced swimming or heat stress. Both hormones increased to the highest level on day 1 of repeated-restraint or unpredictable stresses, but after that, whereas the concentration of cortisol did not change, that of corticosterone showed different dynamics. Thus, whereas corticosterone declined dramatically during repeated restraints, it remained at the high level during unpredictable stress. During forced swimming or heat stress, whereas cortisol increased to the highest level within 3 min., corticosterone did not reach maximum until 40 min. of stress. Analysis with HPLC and HPLC-MS further confirmed the presence of cortisol in mouse serum. Taken together, results (i) confirmed the presence of cortisol in mouse serum and (ii) suggested that mouse serum cortisol and corticosterone are closely correlated in dynamics under different physiological or stressful conditions, but, whereas corticosterone was a more adaptation-related biomarker than cortisol during chronic stress, cortisol was a quicker responder than corticosterone during severe acute stress.
Topics: Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Circadian Rhythm; Corticosterone; Female; Hot Temperature; Hydrocortisone; Male; Mice; Restraint, Physical; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Stress, Physiological; Swimming
PubMed: 25699675
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117503 -
Plant, Cell & Environment Mar 2019Plants need to cope with changing environmental conditions, be it variable light or temperature, different availability of water or nutrients, or attack by pathogens or...
Plants need to cope with changing environmental conditions, be it variable light or temperature, different availability of water or nutrients, or attack by pathogens or insects. Some of these changing conditions can become stressful and require strong countermeasures to ensure plant survival. Plants have evolved numerous distinct sensing and signalling mechanisms to perceive and respond appropriately to a variety of stresses. Because of the unpredictable nature of numerous stresses, resource-saving stress response mechanisms are inducible and become activated only upon a stress experience. Furthermore, plants have evolved mechanisms by which they can remember past stress events and prime their responses in order to react more rapidly or more strongly to recurrent stress. Research over the last decade has revealed mechanisms of this information storage and retrieval, which include epigenetic regulation, transcriptional priming, primed conformation of proteins, or specific hormonal or metabolic signatures. There is also increasing understanding of the ecological constraints and relevance of stress priming and memory. This special issue presents research articles and reviews addressing various aspects of this exciting and growing field of research. Here, we introduce the topic by referring to the articles published in this issue, and we outline open questions and future directions of research.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Epigenesis, Genetic; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Signal Transduction; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 30779228
DOI: 10.1111/pce.13526 -
Molecular Psychiatry Mar 2016Stressful stimuli in healthy subjects trigger activation of a consistent and reproducible set of brain regions; yet, the notion that there is a single and constant... (Review)
Review
Stressful stimuli in healthy subjects trigger activation of a consistent and reproducible set of brain regions; yet, the notion that there is a single and constant stress neuromatrix is not sustainable. Indeed, after chronic stress exposure there is activation of many brain regions outside that network. This suggests that there is a distinction between the acute and the chronic stress neuromatrix. Herein, a new working model is proposed to understand the shift between these networks. The understanding of the factors that modulate these networks and their interplay will allow for a more comprehensive and holistic perspective of how the brain shifts 'back and forth' from a healthy to a stressed pattern and, ultimately, how the latter can be a trigger for several neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Brain Mapping; Humans; Models, Neurological; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 26754952
DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.196