C-reactive protein as a possible indicator of PTSD prognosis and comorbid anhedonia.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often chronic, which is costly to the individual and society. Easy-to-measure prognostic indicators can help to ensure that those with the greatest symptoms receive treatment. Inflammatory biomarkers may precede and predict depression chronicity and worsening, as well as PTSD.

A social science: Using psychoneuroimmunology principles to promote career longevity, productivity, and meaning.

Over the past several decades, psychoneuroimmunologists have uncovered key principles (e.g., social support and stress management) that can inform future research content conduct.

Psychoneuroimmunology in multiple myeloma and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant: Opportunities for research among patients and caregivers.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable cancer and is the leading indication for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). To be eligible for HSCT, a patient must have a caregiver, as caregivers play a central role in HSCT preparation and recovery. MM patients remain on treatment indefinitely, and thus patients and their caregivers face long-term challenges including the intensity of HSCT and perpetual therapy after transplant.

Stressed to the Core: Inflammation and Intestinal Permeability Link Stress-Related Gut Microbiota Shifts to Mental Health Outcomes.

Stress levels are surging, alongside the incidence of stress-related psychiatric disorders. Perhaps a related phenomenon, especially in urban areas, the human gut contains fewer bacterial species than ever before. Although the functional implications of this absence are unclear, one consequence may be reduced stress resilience.

Gut Microbiota Richness and Diversity Track With T Cell Aging in Healthy Adults.

Background: This study examined how gut microbiota diversity and richness relate to T cell aging among 96 healthy adults of all ages. It also explored whether these links differed throughout the lifespan.

Methods: Peripheral blood was obtained from 96 study participants (N = 96, aged 21-72) to assess mRNA markers of T cell aging (p16ink4a, p14ARF, B3gat1, Klrg1) and DNA methylation.

Understanding the health effects of caregiving stress: New directions in molecular aging.

Dementia caregiving has been linked to multiple health risks, including infectious illness, depression, anxiety, immune dysregulation, weakened vaccine responses, slow wound healing, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, frailty, cognitive decline, and reduced structural and functional integrity of the brain. The sustained overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines is a key pathway behind many of these risks. However, contrasting findings suggest that some forms of caregiving may have beneficial effects, such as maintaining caregivers' health and providing a sense of meaning and purpose which, in turn, may contribute to lower rates of functional decline and mortality.

Depression, Inflammation, and Intestinal Permeability: Associations with Subjective and Objective Cognitive Functioning throughout Breast Cancer Survivorship.

About one-in-three breast cancer survivors have lingering cognitive complaints and objective cognitive impairment. Chronic inflammation and intestinal permeability (i.e.

Inflamed but not impulsive: Acute inflammatory cytokine response does not impact prepotent response inhibition.

Background: Prior evidence has linked inflammation with impulsivity, but most of this evidence is cross-sectional. In this study, we provoked an acute inflammatory cytokine response to see whether it lowered prepotent response inhibition on three cognitive tasks.

Method: This study features secondary analyses from a randomized crossover trial in which 171 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors (Stage I-IIIA) each received a typhoid capsular polysaccharide vaccination and a saline placebo injection in a random sequence at two separate visits at least one month apart.

Intimate Partner Violence and Inflammaging: Conflict Tactics Predict Inflammation Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

Objective: In long-term relationships, conflict is inevitable, but physical and psychological aggression is not. Intimate partner violence is a known risk factor for age-related disease onset, and inflammation likely links the two. This study explores relationships between frequency of constructive (i.

Worry and Mindfulness Differentially Impact Symptom Burden Following Treatment Among Breast Cancer Survivors: Findings From a Randomized Crossover Trial.

Background: Breast cancer survivors often experience many somatic and cognitive side effects resulting from their cancer diagnosis and treatment, including higher rates of pain, fatigue, and memory/concentration problems. Emotion regulation offers opportunities to either enhance or dampen physical health.

Purpose: In a secondary analysis of a double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) using a typhoid vaccine to assess factors associated with breast cancer survivors' inflammatory responses, we assessed how two specific aspects of emotion regulation, mindfulness, and worry, corresponded to acute changes in focus problems, memory problems, and fatigue along with performance on pain sensitivity and cognitive tasks across two visits among breast cancer survivors.

Omega-3 fatty acids reduce depressive symptoms only among the socially stressed: A corollary of the social signal transduction theory of depression.

Objective: There is mixed evidence about whether omega-3 fatty acids reduce depressive symptoms. We previously reported that 4 months of omega-3 supplementation reduced inflammatory responsivity to a lab-based social stressor. In another study, we showed that those with exaggerated inflammatory responsivity to a social stressor had the greatest depressive symptom increases over time, especially if they experienced frequent social stress.

A troubled heart: Mood disorder history longitudinally predicts faster cardiopulmonary aging in breast cancer survivorship.

Objective: Breast cancer survivors live longer due to more advanced cancer treatments; however, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading non-cancer cause of death in breast cancer survivors. Previous studies have shown that depression is associated with an increased risk of CVD development. This study investigated whether depressive symptoms or mood disorder history, either independently or in combination with cardiotoxic treatments, predicted older cardiopulmonary age using a novel index-the Age Based on Exercise Stress Test (ABEST)-among breast cancer survivors.

Conflicts hurt: social stress predicts elevated pain and sadness after mild inflammatory increases.

Individuals respond differently to inflammation. Pain, sadness, and fatigue are common correlates of inflammation among breast cancer survivors. Stress may predict response intensity.

How aging couples' emotional and physiological associations change across positive, supportive, and conflictual discussions: Roles of capitalization and responsive behaviors.

Background: Couples' emotions and physiology change across interactions and based on behaviors. Aging couples' emotions and physiology may be closely related as they spend more time together and rely on each other for support. We examined aging couples' emotional and physiological associations across multiple indices and marital interactions; we also assessed how couples' capitalization and responsive behaviors during the first discussion were protective in subsequent emotional conversations.

Marital negativity's festering wounds: The emotional, immunological, and relational toll of couples' negative communication patterns.

Background: Dyadic stress theories and research suggest that couples' negative communication patterns threaten immune and emotional health, leaving partners vulnerable to illness. Spouses' relationship perceptions can also color how they see and react to marital discussions. To identify pathways linking distressed marriages to poor health, this study examined how self-reported typical communication patterns augmented discussion-based behavioral effects on spouses' blister wound healing, emotions, and discussion evaluations.

"We've Got This": Middle-Aged and Older Couples' Satisfying Relationships and We-Talk Promote Better Physiological, Relational, and Emotional Responses to Conflict.

Objective: Conflict poses multiple relational and health risks. Dyadic stress theories suggest satisfaction and communication alter cardiovascular and autonomic function, key pathways from troubled relationships to poor health. However, "we-talk," a positive communication pattern, can strengthen relationships and promote health.

Typhoid vaccine does not impact feelings of social connection or social behavior in a randomized crossover trial among middle-aged female breast cancer survivors.

Background: Inflammation can have social consequences, which may be relevant to inflammation's link with depression. The current study tests whether a typhoid vaccine increases feelings of social disconnection and avoidance behavior.

Method: In two full-day visits at least three weeks apart, 172 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors (Stage I-IIIA) each received a typhoid capsular polysaccharide vaccination and a saline placebo injection in a random sequence.

Distress Disorder Histories Relate to Greater Physical Symptoms Among Breast Cancer Patients and Survivors: Findings Across the Cancer Trajectory.

Background: Psychological disorders can substantially worsen physical symptoms associated with breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, reducing survivors' quality of life and increasing recurrence risk. Distress disorders may be particularly detrimental given their physical correlates. Across two studies, we examined the relationship between a distress disorder history and physical symptoms pre- and post-adjuvant treatment - two important periods of the cancer trajectory.

Depression and anxiety in colorectal cancer patients: Ties to pain, fatigue, and inflammation.

Objective: Colorectal cancer poses a significant threat to both psychological and physical health. This study examined relationships between anxiety and depressive symptoms with pain, fatigue, and inflammation among colorectal patients.

Methods: Colorectal cancer patients (n = 88, stages 0-IV) completed a laboratory-based study visit before undergoing adjuvant cancer treatment.

Are sick people really more impulsive?: Investigating inflammation-driven impulsivity.

In both animals and humans, inflammatory stimuli - especially infections and endotoxin injections - cause "sickness behaviors," including lethargy, malaise, and low mood. An emerging line of research asserts that inflammation may provoke present-focused decision making and impulsivity. The current article assesses that claim in the context of the broader literature - including preclinical models and clinical interventions.

Frequent Interpersonal Stress and Inflammatory Reactivity Predict Depressive-Symptom Increases: Two Tests of the Social-Signal-Transduction Theory of Depression.

The asserts that people who experience ongoing interpersonal stressors and mount a greater inflammatory response to social stress are at higher risk for depression. The current study tested this theory in two adult samples. In Study 1, physically healthy adults ( = 76) who reported more frequent interpersonal tension had heightened depressive symptoms at Visit 2, but only if they had greater inflammatory reactivity to a marital conflict at Visit 1.

The gut connection: Intestinal permeability as a pathway from breast cancer survivors' relationship satisfaction to inflammation across treatment.

Background: Breast cancer survivors are prone to weakened gut barriers, allowing bacteria to migrate into the blood stream. Gut permeability fuels inflammation, which, among survivors, can elevate risk for comorbid disease development, cancer recurrence, and a poor quality of life; however, survivors' satisfying relationships can provide health benefits. This longitudinal study used a conceptual model addressing how intimate relationships is associated with health through changes in gut permeability and inflammation.

Distress disorder histories predict HRV trajectories during and after stress.

Background: Breast cancer survivors face a number of physical health threats including cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among breast cancer survivors. Low heart rate variability (HRV) represents one well-established risk factor for poor cardiovascular health. Among physically healthy adults and breast cancer survivors, distress disorders may contribute to lower HRV, enhancing morbidity and mortality.

Boosting stress resilience using flexibility as a framework to reduce depression risk.

Stress exposure is inevitable, and major life events often precede depression onset. However, a majority do not develop depression after a major life event. Inflexible physiological responses to stress, in which the magnitude or duration is disproportionate to the stressor, may increase risk for depression - especially in the context of frequent or repetitive stress.