Ilona S. Federenko

Bio: Ilona S. Federenko is an academic researcher from University of Trier. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cortisol awakening response & Trier social stress test. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 19 publications receiving 4070 citations. Previous affiliations of Ilona S. Federenko include University of California, Irvine.

The cortisol awakening response - normal values and confounds.

Abstract: In several recent investigations it could be demonstrated that the free cortisol response to awakening can serve as an useful index of the adrenocortical activity. When measured with strict reference to the time of awakening the assessment of this endocrine response is able to uncover subtle changes in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, which are, for instance, related to persisting pain, burnout and chronic stress. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the HPA axis might serve as an indicator of allostatic load in subjects exposed to prolonged environmental noise. In the present paper four separate studies with a total of 509 adult subjects were combined in order to provide reliable information on normal values for the free cortisol response to awakening. Corresponding with earlier findings, a mean cortisol increase of about 50% within the first 30 minutes after awakening was observed. The intraindividual stability over time was shown to be remarkably high with correlations up to r=.63 (for the area under the response curve). Furthermore, the cortisol rise after awakening is rather consistent, with responder rates of about 75%. Gender significantly influenced early morning free cortisol levels. Although women showed a virtually identical cortisol increase after awakening compared to men, a significantly delayed decrease was observed. Confirming and extending previous findings, the present study strongly suggests that neither age, nor the use of oral contraceptives, habitual smoking, time of awakening, sleep duration or using / not using an alarm clock have a considerable impact on free cortisol levels after awakening. The cortisol awakening response can be assessed under a wide variety of clinical and field settings, since it is non-invasive, inexpensive and easy-to-employ. The present data provide normal values and information on potential confounds which should facilitate investigations into the endocrine consequences of prolonged exposure to environmental noise.

Persistent high cortisol responses to repeated psychological stress in a subpopulation of healthy men.

Abstract: The present study tested the hypothesis that some subjects may not readily show habituation of adrenocortical stress responses to repeated psychological stress. Twenty healthy male subjects were each exposed five times to the same, brief psychosocial stressor (public speaking and mental arithmetic in front of an audience) with one stress session per day. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed as an index of adrenocortical stress responses. For the total group, cortisol levels were significantly elevated on each of the 5 days. The mean response decreased from day 1 to day 2; however, no further attenuation could be observed on the remaining days. Cluster analysis revealed two groups of subjects who showed completely different response kinetics. In the first group (N = 13), termed "low responders," cortisol levels were elevated on day 1 only. Day 2 to 5 cortisol levels were unaltered. In contrast, subjects in the second group ("high responders") displayed large increases to each of the five experimental treatments. This group had no significant response decrement from day 1 to day 2 to 4 and only a marginal response difference between day 1 and day 5. Discriminant analysis revealed that a combination of five personality scales plus the scores on a symptoms checklist significantly discriminated between high and low responders. With this discriminant function, all 20 subjects were correctly classified to the two groups. These results are discussed with a focus on the possible impact of adrenocortical response types on health and disease.

Common polymorphisms in the glucocorticoid receptor gene are associated with adrenocortical responses to psychosocial stress.

Abstract: Chronic dysregulation of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity is related to several stress-related disorders. Evidence suggests that polymorphisms in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene may have an impact on this neuroendocrine system. In the present investigation, 112 healthy males were studied to estimate the impact of three GR gene polymorphisms (BclI RFLP, N363S, ER22/23EK) on cortisol and ACTH responses to psychosocial stress (Trier Social Stress Test) and pharmacological stimulation (1 μg ACTH1–24, 0.5 mg dexamethasone). Because only four ER22/23EK heterozygotes were identified, these subjects were not statistically analyzed. Compared with subjects with the wild-type GR genotype (n = 36), 363S allele carriers (n = 10) showed significantly increased salivary cortisol responses to stress, whereas the BclI genotype GG (n = 18) was associated with a diminished cortisol response. BclI heterozygotes and homozygotes (GG) exhibited a trend toward lower ACTH responses, compared with wild-type subje...

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Protective and Damaging Effects of Stress Mediators

Abstract: Over 60 years ago, Selye1 recognized the paradox that the physiologic systems activated by stress can not only protect and restore but also damage the body. What links these seemingly contradictory roles? How does stress influence the pathogenesis of disease, and what accounts for the variation in vulnerability to stress-related diseases among people with similar life experiences? How can stress-induced damage be quantified? These and many other questions still challenge investigators. This article reviews the long-term effect of the physiologic response to stress, which I refer to as allostatic load.2 Allostasis — the ability to achieve stability through change3 — . . .

Acute stressors and cortisol responses: a theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research.

Abstract: This meta-analysis reviews 208 laboratory studies of acute psychological stressors and tests a theoretical model delineating conditions capable of eliciting cortisol responses. Psychological stressors increased cortisol levels; however, effects varied widely across tasks. Consistent with the theoretical model, motivated performance tasks elicited cortisol responses if they were uncontrollable or characterized by social-evaluative threat (task performance could be negatively judged by others), when methodological factors and other stressor characteristics were controlled for. Tasks containing both uncontrollable and social-evaluative elements were associated with the largest cortisol and adrenocorticotropin hormone changes and the longest times to recovery. These findings are consistent with the animal literature on the physiological effects of uncontrollable social threat and contradict the belief that cortisol is responsive to all types of stressors.

Stress, adaptation, and disease. Allostasis and allostatic load.

Abstract: Adaptation in the face of potentially stressful challenges involves activation of neural, neuroendocrine and neuroendocrine-immune mechanisms. This has been called "allostasis" or "stability through change" by Sterling and Eyer (Fisher S., Reason J. (eds): Handbook of Life Stress, Cognition and Health. J. Wiley Ltd. 1988, p. 631), and allostasis is an essential component of maintaining homeostasis. When these adaptive systems are turned on and turned off again efficiently and not too frequently, the body is able to cope effectively with challenges that it might not otherwise survive. However, there are a number of circumstances in which allostatic systems may either be overstimulated or not perform normally, and this condition has been termed "allostatic load" or the price of adaptation (McEwen and Stellar, Arch. Int. Med. 1993; 153: 2093.). Allostatic load can lead to disease over long periods. Types of allostatic load include (1) frequent activation of allostatic systems; (2) failure to shut off allostatic activity after stress; (3) inadequate response of allostatic systems leading to elevated activity of other, normally counter-regulated allostatic systems after stress. Examples will be given for each type of allostatic load from research pertaining to autonomic, CNS, neuroendocrine, and immune system activity. The relationship of allostatic load to genetic and developmental predispositions to disease is also considered.