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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 -
Journal of Medicine and Life 2010Acute stress increases resistance to infection. The alteration of this mechanism in chronically stressed people impairs the organism's ability to mount a strong immune... (Review)
Review
Acute stress increases resistance to infection. The alteration of this mechanism in chronically stressed people impairs the organism's ability to mount a strong immune response with a resultant increase in morbidity. Acute stress induces a probable sympatho-adrenergically mediated increase in chemotaxis and adhesion molecules expression, thus promoting immune cells migration to sites of infection and/or inflammation, while chronic stress impairs this mechanism. Protracted stressful conditions decrease NK cytotoxic capacity. There is a substance P, which under stressful circumstances mediates the increase in macrophage cytokine production. Acute stress increases T cell mobilization through a beta2-adrenergically mediated process, which is blunted during chronic stress. Psychological stress impairs the immune system's ability to produce antibodies in response to a vaccine, thereby making the organism more vulnerable to infections.
Topics: Chemotaxis; Humans; Immune System; Immunity, Cellular; Immunity, Humoral; Killer Cells, Natural; Stress, Psychological; T-Lymphocytes
PubMed: 20302192
DOI: No ID Found -
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 -
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 -
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 -
Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 2006The mind involves the whole body and two-way communication between the brain and the cardiovascular, immune, and other systems via neural and endocrine mechanisms.... (Review)
Review
The mind involves the whole body and two-way communication between the brain and the cardiovascular, immune, and other systems via neural and endocrine mechanisms. Stress is a condition of the mind-body interaction, and a factor in the expression of disease that differs among individuals. It is notjust the dramatic stressful events that exact their toll, but rather the many events of daily life that elevate and sustain activities of physiological systems and cause sleep deprivation, overeating, and other health-damaging behaviors, producing the feeling of being "stressed out." Over time, this results in wear and tear on the body which is called "allostatic load," and it reflects not only the impact of life experiences but also of genetic load, individual lifestyle habits reflecting items such as diet, exercise, and substance abuse, and developmental experiences that set life-long patterns of behavior and physiological reactivity. Hormones associated with stress and allostatic load protect the body in the short run and promote adaptation by the process known as allostasis, but in the long run allostatic load causes changes in the body that can lead to disease. The brain is the key organ of stress, allostasis, and allostatic load, because it determines what is threatening and therefore stressful, and also determines the physiological and behavioral responses. Brain regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex respond to acute and chronic stress by undergoing structural remodeling, which alters behavioral and physiological responses. Translational studies in humans with structural and functional imaging reveal smaller hippocampal volume in stress-related conditions, such as mild cognitive impairment in aging and prolonged major depressive illness, as well as in individuals with low self-esteem. Alterations in amygdala and prefrontal cortex are also reported. Besides pharmaceuticals, approaches to alleviate chronic stress and reduce allostatic load and the incidence of diseases of modern life include lifestyle change, and policies of government and business that would improve the ability of individuals to reduce their own chronic stress burden.
Topics: Brain; Humans; Self Concept; Sleep Deprivation; Social Support; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 17290796
DOI: 10.31887/DCNS.2006.8.4/bmcewen -
Brazilian Journal of Medical and... Apr 2012It is well recognized that stressful experiences promote robust emotional memories, which are well remembered. The amygdaloid complex, principally the basolateral... (Review)
Review
It is well recognized that stressful experiences promote robust emotional memories, which are well remembered. The amygdaloid complex, principally the basolateral complex (BLA), plays a pivotal role in fear memory and in the modulation of stress-induced emotional responses. A large number of reports have revealed that GABAergic interneurons provide a powerful inhibitory control of the activity of projecting glutamatergic neurons in the BLA. Indeed, a reduced GABAergic control in the BLA is essential for the stress-induced influence on the emergence of associative fear memory and on the generation of long-term potentiation (LTP) in BLA neurons. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) subfamily of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in the BLA plays a central role in the consolidation process and synaptic plasticity. In support of the view that stress facilitates long-term fear memory, stressed animals exhibited a phospho-ERK2 (pERK2) increase in the BLA, suggesting the involvement of this mechanism in the promoting influence of threatening stimuli on the consolidation fear memory. Moreover, the occurrence of reactivation-induced lability is prevented when fear memory is encoded under intense stressful conditions since the memory trace remains immune to disruption after recall in previously stressed animals. Thus, the underlying mechanism in retrieval-induced instability seems not to be functional in memories formed under stress. All these findings are indicative that stress influences both the consolidation and reconsolidation fear memory processes. Thus, it seems reasonable to propose that the emotional state generated by an environmental challenge critically modulates the formation and maintenance of long-term fear memory.
Topics: Amygdala; Animals; Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; Fear; Humans; MAP Kinase Signaling System; Memory; Stress, Physiological; Synaptic Transmission
PubMed: 22450371
DOI: 10.1590/s0100-879x2012007500045 -
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 -
Annual Review of Physiology Feb 2021Sestrins are a family of proteins that respond to a variety of environmental stresses, including genotoxic, oxidative, and nutritional stresses. Sestrins affect multiple... (Review)
Review
Sestrins are a family of proteins that respond to a variety of environmental stresses, including genotoxic, oxidative, and nutritional stresses. Sestrins affect multiple signaling pathways: AMP-activated protein kinase, mammalian target of rapamycin complexes, insulin-AKT, and redox signaling pathways. By regulating these pathways, Sestrins are thought to help adapt to stressful environments and subsequently restore cell and tissue homeostasis. In this review, we describe how Sestrins mediate physiological stress responses in the context of nutritional and chemical stresses (liver), physical movement and exercise (skeletal muscle), and chemical, physical, and inflammatory injuries (heart). These findings also support the idea that Sestrins are a molecular mediator of hormesis, a paradoxical beneficial effect of low- or moderate-level stresses in living organisms.
Topics: Animals; Exercise; Homeostasis; Humans; Muscle, Skeletal; Sestrins; Signal Transduction; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 33113341
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-physiol-031620-092317 -
Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience 2017Exposure to stressful situations is one of the risk factors for the precipitation of several psychiatric disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder, Posttraumatic... (Review)
Review
Exposure to stressful situations is one of the risk factors for the precipitation of several psychiatric disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Schizophrenia. The hippocampal formation is a forebrain structure highly associated with emotional, learning and memory processes; being particularly vulnerable to stress. Exposure to stressful stimuli leads to neuroplastic changes and imbalance between inhibitory/excitatory networks. These changes have been associated with an impaired hippocampal function. Endocannabinoids (eCB) are one of the main systems controlling both excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, as well as neuroplasticity within the hippocampus. Cannabinoids receptors are highly expressed in the hippocampus, and several lines of evidence suggest that facilitation of cannabinoid signaling within this brain region prevents stress-induced behavioral changes. Also, chronic stress modulates hippocampal CB receptors expression and endocannabinoid levels. Moreover, cannabinoids participate in mechanisms related to synaptic plasticity and adult neurogenesis. Here, we discussed the main findings supporting the involvement of hippocampal cannabinoid neurotransmission in stress-induced behavioral and neuroplastic changes.
PubMed: 29311804
DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2017.00411