Redox balance signalling in occupational stress: modification by nutraceutical intervention.

There is increasing evidence that psychosocial stress can be viewed as a system-wide derangement of cellular homeostasis, with heightened oxidative stress and triggered proinflammatory mechanisms. The aim of this study is twofold: a) to replicate findings that psychological stress increases oxidative damage and b) to determine whether a fermented papaya preparation known to exert significant protective antioxidant properties could buffer such increases in nuclear DNA damage while also inducing epigenetic protective mechanisms. Twenty-eight sedentary men and women (age range: 28-52), who reported living a stressful lifestyle but with an overall positive attitude, were recruited for this study.