Ethnic differences in diurnal cortisol profiles in healthy adults: A meta-analysis.

Purpose: Cortisol is a well-known biomarker of the physiological stress system; atypical cortisol patterns have been linked to many psychological and physiological illnesses. Previous studies have found vast health disparities among ethnic groups; however, studies examining the relationship between cortisol and ethnicity have found mixed results. This meta-analysis investigated whether there are differences in diurnal cortisol outcomes among ethnic groups, while considering the moderating roles of various individual factors and methodological approaches.

Stress reactivity in healthy child offspring of parents with anxiety disorders.

Several studies suggest that anxiety disorders (AD) involve dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary (HPA) axis. However, it is unknown if alterations in these biological systems are premorbid markers of AD risk or a state-dependent feature of anxiety. This study examined ANS and HPA-axis response to a laboratory stressor in healthy child offspring of parents with (n = 55) and without (n = 98) a history of AD.

Aerobic physical activity and salivary cortisol levels among women with a history of breast cancer.

Background: Physical activity (PA) helps reduce cancer-related symptoms and improves overall functioning for women with and without a history of breast cancer (BC). Few researchers have examined the associations between PA and physiological stress measures. The aim of this study was to determine whether aerobic PA was associated with diurnal and reactive cortisol patterns, and whether these associations differed for women with and without a history of BC.

Salivary secretory immunoglobulin A reactivity: a comparison to cortisol and α-amylase patterns in the same breast cancer survivors.

Introduction: One way to examine the extent to which the stress associated with a breast cancer experience (BC) impacts stress-related physiological mechanisms is to study the secretion patterns of associated biomarkers. Unlike cortisol and α-amylase (sAA), biomarkers of immune functioning such as secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) have rarely been examined in BC survivors.

Aim Of The Study: This study had two principal aims: the first was to evaluate the basal secretion profiles of SIgA as well as its response to an acute stressor as a marker of immune health in BC survivors and women with no history of BC, and the second was to determine how SIgA stress-related patterns compare to published cortisol and sAA patterns in the same women.

Assessment of executive function using the Tinkertoy test.

The Tinkertoy test (TTT) has often been used to assess executive function. Despite its clinical importance, there are few published normative data for it. Thus, the primary aim of this study was to fill this gap.

Cancer-related cognitive impairment in breast cancer survivors: An examination of conceptual and statistical cognitive domains using principal component analysis.

There is a great deal of variability in the composition of neuropsychological test batteries used in the assessment of cancerrelated cognitive impairment (CRCI). Not only the development of a gold standard approach for CRCI assessment would allow for easier identification of women suffering from CRCI but it would also promote optimal care for survivors. As a first step towards the development of a valid and reliable unified test battery, the objective of this study was to verify whether the theoretical domains commonly used in CRCI assessment are statistically supported, before and after breast cancer treatment.

Effects of combined pre- and post-natal enrichment on anxiety-like, social, and cognitive behaviours in juvenile and adult rat offspring.

The pre- and post-natal periods are characterized by unrivalled growth and are sensitive to environmental changes. A correctly stimulating early environment is essential for developing natural behaviors and maintaining affective wellness. Five litters of rat progeny were co-housed through gestation until juvenile age in housing providing physical and social enrichment.

Strain Differences and Effects of Environmental Manipulation on Astrocytes (Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein), Glucocorticoid Receptor, and Microglia (Iba1) Immunoreactivity between Wistar-Kyoto and Wistar Females.

Background: Depression is often associated with an increase in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity and immune response. To investigate this relationship, we examined the consequences of environmental manipulation on the neural correlates of the HPA axis and immune response in an animal model of depression, the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat. Additionally, female animals are often overlooked in preclinical research because of the hormone fluctuations inherent in the estrous cycle.

The role of stressful life events on the cortisol reactivity patterns of breast cancer survivors.

Objective: Atypical patterns of cortisol secretion following an acute stressor have been commonly reported in breast cancer survivors. Stressful life events have been associated with blunted acute cortisol levels in other populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of stressful life events on cortisol secretion patterns of breast cancer survivors following an acute stressor.

Corticosterone and immune cytokine characterization following environmental manipulation in female WKY rats.

This study investigated the effects of environmental manipulation on female Wistar Kyoto (WKY), an animal model of depression, and female Wistar rats. It explored the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and immune system, as they have both been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. A further goal was to characterize the immune cytokine concentrations of female WKY rats as this has, to our knowledge, never been documented.

The Effects of Outgroup Threat and Opportunity to Derogate on Salivary Cortisol Levels.

Perceptions of intergroup threat have been related to both experiences of physiological stress responses and derogation of the outgroup. In this study, a neuroscience perspective was used to investigate the relationship between stress and opportunity to derogate the outgroup, in a threatening intergroup context. Research from a social identity perspective suggests that engaging in outgroup derogation alleviates stress when perceiving an intergroup threat.

Salivary Alpha-Amylase Reactivity in Breast Cancer Survivors.

The two main components of the stress system are the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axes. While cortisol has been commonly used as a biomarker of HPA functioning, much less attention has been paid to the role of the SAM in this context. Studies have shown that long-term breast cancer survivors display abnormal reactive cortisol patterns, suggesting a dysregulation of their HPA axis.

Environmental manipulation affects depressive-like behaviours in female Wistar-Kyoto rats.

While the efficacy of pharmacological interventions to treat depression has been well-studied in animal models, much less work has been done to shed light on how changes in the immediate environment can impact behaviour. Furthermore, most studies have focused on male rodents despite the prevalence of mood disorders in women. In this study, 36 Wistar Kyoto (validated animal model of depression) and 36 Wistar (control) female rats were used to examine the effects of environmental manipulation on depressive- and anxiety-like behaviours.

In utero programming alters adult response to chronic mild stress: part 3 of a longitudinal study.

Exposure to stress before birth may lay the foundation for the development of sensitivities or protection from psychiatric disorders while later stress exposure may trigger either their expression or suppression. This report, part three of a longitudinal study conducted in our laboratory, aimed to examine the interaction between early and adult stress and their effects on measures of anxiety and depression. In parts one and two, we reported the effects of gestational stress (GS) in Long Evans rat dams and their juvenile and young adult offspring.

Bisphenol-A: epigenetic reprogramming and effects on reproduction and behavior.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic compound used in the production of many polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. It is one of the most widely produced chemicals in the world today and is found in most canned goods, plastics, and even household dust. Exposure to BPA is almost universal: most people have measurable amounts of BPA in both urine and serum.

The impact of motherhood on perceived stress, illness intrusiveness and fear of cancer recurrence in young breast cancer survivors over time.

Objective: Parenting while coping with breast cancer can be challenging for many young women, yet little is known about the impact of motherhood on their well-being over time.

Design: The first part of this study examined differences in perceived stress, illness intrusiveness and fear of cancer recurrence between young breast cancer survivors with and without children in two separate time frames (0-5 and 5-15 years since diagnosis). The second part identified determinants for these elements of well-being in young mothers exclusively.

Differences in verbal memory retrieval in breast cancer chemotherapy patients compared to healthy controls: a prospective fMRI study.

Cognitive complaints by breast cancer survivors receiving chemotherapy have led to an increasing interest in elucidating the possible causes of such impairment. Although a number of neuroimaging studies have been conducted, only a handful of them have taken into account cognitive status pre-chemotherapy. The current study included pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy assessment.

Young and worried: Age and fear of recurrence in breast cancer survivors.

Objective: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a frequently cited and unmet need of cancer survivors. While the relation between age and FCR is well documented, the mechanisms that may explain this phenomenon remain to be investigated. This study examined four possible mechanisms of the relation between age and FCR: motherhood, severity of the cancer (defined as cancer stage and chemotherapy), anxiety, and illness intrusiveness.

Prechemotherapy differences in response inhibition in breast cancer patients compared to controls: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Prechemotherapy neuroimaging data are lacking in posttreatment cognitive impairment studies. Breast cancer patients and noncancer controls were scanned prior to chemotherapy during a response inhibition task. Task reaction times and error rates, as well as neuropsychological tests, hospital records, and salivary biomarkers, were investigated, yielding no significant group differences.

Pre-chemotherapy differences in visuospatial working memory in breast cancer patients compared to controls: an FMRI study.

Introduction: Cognitive deficits are a side-effect of chemotherapy, however pre-treatment research is limited. This study examines neurofunctional differences during working memory between breast cancer (BC) patients and controls, prior to chemotherapy.

Methods: Early stage BC females (23), scanned after surgery but before chemotherapy, were individually matched to non-cancer controls.

Environmental-enrichment-related variations in behavioral, biochemical, and physiologic responses of Sprague-Dawley and Long Evans rats.

The behavioral, biochemical, and physiologic consequences of 6 wk of environmental enrichment were evaluated in male Long Evans and Sprague-Dawley rats and compared with those of rats in standard single-housing conditions. Standard housing provided little or no social or physical stimulation whereas environmental enrichment comprised group housing for 8 h daily in a 3-story cage equipped with novel stimuli. Dependent measures included performance in the forced swim test, thresholds for brain-stimulation reward, sucrose intake and preference, determination of corticosterone levels before and after brief restraint stress, and rate of weight gain.

The effects of gestational and postpartum environmental enrichment on the mother rat: A preliminary investigation.

Environmental enrichment is known to influence an animal's well-being, provide opportunities for activity, and encourage behaviours appropriate to the species. Female Long-Evans rats were co-housed during their gestational and postpartum times in a colony housing environment comprising numerous cages, with interconnecting tubes, surrounding a multileveled enclosure with many objects scattered throughout. A control group of rats were housed in standard cages.

Effects of gestational stress: 2. Evaluation of male and female adult offspring.

Physical restraint applied during gestation is a commonly employed animal model of human pregnancy stress. The consequences of such a paradigm have been extensively investigated in adult male rats using a variety of physiological and behavioral measures. The behavioral repertoire of female offspring, however, has been largely ignored.

Modeling dad: animal models of paternal behavior.

In humans, paternal behaviors have a strong influence on the emotional and social development of children. Fathers, more frequently than mothers, leave the family nucleus, and/or become abusive, leading to offspring that are more likely to grow under stressful conditions and greater susceptibility to abnormal health and social outcomes. Literature on parental behaviors, human or animal, has primarily focused on the interactions between mothers and offspring, with little research directed at understanding paternal behavior.

Cognitive effects of hormonal therapy in early stage breast cancer patients: a prospective study.

Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the cognitive effects of adjuvant hormonal therapies in breast cancer patients.

Participants And Methods: Post-menopausal breast cancer patients scheduled to receive tamoxifen (n=31) or anastrozole (n=14) completed neuropsychological testing around the time of commencement of treatment (T1), and again 5-6 months later (T2). A sample of healthy female volunteers (n=28) was tested at comparable intervals.