Stress influences circulating inflammatory markers, and these effects may mediate the influence of psychosocial factors on cardiovascular risk and other conditions such as psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. Inflammatory responses can be investigated under controlled experimental conditions in humans, and evidence is beginning to emerge showing that circulating inflammatory factors respond to acute psychological stress under laboratory conditions. However, research published to date has varied greatly in the composition of study groups, the timing of samples, assay methods, and the type of challenge imposed. The purpose of this review is to synthesize existing data using meta-analytic techniques. Thirty studies met inclusion criteria. Results showed robust effects for increased levels of circulating IL-6 (r=0.19, p=0.001) and IL-1beta (r=0.58, p<0.001) following acute stress, and marginal effects for CRP (r=0.12, p=0.088). The effects of stress on stimulated cytokine production were less consistent. Significant variation in the inflammatory response was also related to the health status of participants and the timing of post-stress samples. A number of psychobiological mechanisms may underlie responses, including stress-induced reductions in plasma volume, upregulation of synthesis, or enlargement of the cell pool contributing to synthesis. The acute stress-induced inflammatory response may have implications for future health, and has become an important topic of psychoneuroimmunological research.

The effects of acute psychological stress on circulating inflammatory factors in humans: a review and meta-analysis.

http://www.gruberpeplab.com/teaching/psych231_fall2013/documents/231_Kudielkaa2008.pdf

Why do we respond so differently? Reviewing determinants of human salivary cortisol responses to challenge.

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(07)61305-1.pdf

The cardiovascular toll of stress

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/35947.pdf

Biological and psychological markers of stress in humans: Focus on the Trier Social Stress Test

More than 10 years ago, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was introduced as a standardized protocol for the induction of moderate psychosocial stress in laboratory settings. This article provides an up-to-date description of the TSST protocol and a brief review of a decade of research with the TSST.

Trier Social Stress Test

Exhaustion is associated with reduced habituation of free cortisol responses to repeated acute psychosocial stress.

Blood coagulation activation might be one mechanism linking acute mental stress with coronary events.We investigated the natural habituation of coagulation responses and recovery to short-term mental stress.Three times with one-week intervals, 24 men (mean age 47 ± 7 years) underwent the same 13-min stressor (preparation, job interview, mental arithmetic). During each visit venous blood was obtained four times (baseline, immediately post-stress, 45 min of recovery, 105 min of recovery). Eight blood coagulation parameters were measured at weeks one and three. Acute stress provoked increases in von Willebrand factor antigen, fibrinogen, clotting factor FVII activity (FVII:C), FVIII:C, FXII:C (p’s =0.019), and D-dimer (N.S.). All coagulation parameters experienced full recovery except FVIII:C (p = 0.022). Stress did not significantly affect activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time. At all time points FVIII:C and FXII:C levels were significantly higher at week one compared to week three (p’s =0.041). Before catheter insertion, systolic blood pressure (p = 0.001) and heart rate (p = 0.026) were relatively higher at week one. Unlike the magnitude of systolic blood pressure response to stress (p = 0.007) and of cortisol recovery from stress (p = 0.002), the magnitude of all coagulation responses to stress and the recovery from stress were similar in week one and week three. Sympathetic activation with anticipatory stress best explained increased baseline activity in FVIII and FXII at week one. An incapacity of the coagulation system to adapt to stress repeats is perhaps a consequence of evolution, but might also contribute to increased coronary risk in some individuals, particularly in those with cardiovascular diseases.

/pdf/the-effect-of-natural-habituation-on-coagulation-responses-22ohhh7m9c.pdf

Katharina Mischler

Papers

Exhaustion is associated with reduced habituation of free cortisol responses to repeated acute psychosocial stress.

The effect of natural habituation on coagulation responses to acute mental stress and recovery in men.

Relationship between hemoconcentration and blood coagulation responses to acute mental stress.

The effect of repeated acute mental stress on habituation and recovery responses in hemoconcentration and blood cells in healthy men.