Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ
October 2021
(1) Background: While a number of studies among military personnel focus on specific pathologies such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression, they do not address the cumulative impact on mental health of stressors related to the profession. The present study aims to determine the relationship between allostatic load and mental health status in a cohort of fit-for-duty soldiers prior to their deployment to Afghanistan. The aim is to better-define the consequences of stressor adjustment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
December 2021
Stress reactivity is a complex phenomenon associated with multiple and multimodal expressions and functions. Herein, we hypothesized that compared with healthy controls (HCs), adolescents with borderline personality disorder (BPD) would exhibit a stronger response to stressors and a deficit in self-perception of stress due to their lack of insight. Twenty adolescents with BPD and 20 matched HCs performed a socially evaluated mental arithmetic test to induce stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio observed in critically ill patients with COVID-19 is associated with excessive levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which promote a cascade of biological events that drive pathological host responses. ROS induce tissue damage, thrombosis and red blood cell dysfunction, which contribute to COVID-19 disease severity. We suggest that free radical scavengers could be beneficial for the most vulnerable patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfter social stress, rats become vulnerable to depression, and this state is characterized by persistent low blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The aim of this study was to determine whether low BDNF levels are associated with long term autonomic changes. Defeated animals were subjected to four daily episodes of social defeats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMajor depressive disorder (MDD) in children and adolescents is a recurrent and disabling condition globally but its pathophysiology remains poorly elucidated and there are limited effective treatments available. We performed metabolic profiling of plasma samples based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with quadrupole time-offlight mass spectrometry to explore the potential biomarkers of depression in children and adolescents with MDD. We identified several perturbed pathways, including fatty acid metabolism-particularly the polyunsaturated fatty acids metabolism, and purine metabolism-that were associated with MDD in these young patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfter an intense and repeated stress some rats become vulnerable to depression. This state is characterized by persistent low serum BDNF concentration. Our objective was to determine whether electrophysiological markers can sign vulnerability to depression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mindfulness-based interventions for healthy behaviors such as exercise and dietary modifications have aroused growing interest. This study aims to test the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention for the reduction of impulsive eating and the improvement of motivation to exercise among obese individuals.
Methods: One-hundred and twenty obese outpatients, aged 18 to 65years, diagnosed with a binge eating disorder, will be randomly assigned to one of the three following groups: mindfulness practice, sham meditation, or treatment as usual control.
Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol
August 2016
Repeated social defeat in the rat induces long-lasting cardiovascular changes associated with anxiety. In this study, we investigated the effects of repeated social defeat on breathing. Respiratory rate was extracted from the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) peak frequency of the ECG in rats subjected to social defeat for 4 consecutive days.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnxiety disorders in humans reduce both the heart rate variability (HRV) and the sensitivity of the cardiac baroreflex (BRS). Both may contribute to sudden death. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying these alterations, male rats were subjected to social defeat sessions on four consecutive days.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDefence responses triggered experimentally in rats by stimulation of the dorsomedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (DMH) and the dorsolateral periaqueductal grey matter (PAG) inhibit the cardiac baroreflex response (i.e. bradycardia).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic stressful events induce biochemical, physiological and psychological changes, resulting in stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders, such as anxiety or depression. Using repeated social defeat as a stressful event model, we show that this preclinical paradigm induces a transient increase in the expression of the genes encoding the pro-inflammatory molecules iNOS and COX-2. We provide the first demonstration that chronic stress affects spinal plasticity through a mechanism involving local neuroinflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropathic pain developing after peripheral nerve injury is associated with altered neuronal and glial cell functions in the spinal cord. Activated glia produces algogenic mediators, exacerbating pain. Among the different intracellular pathways possibly involved in the modified glial function, the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) system is of particular interest, as numerous genes encoding inflammation- and pain-related molecules are controlled by this transcription factor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropathic pain developing after peripheral nerve injury is associated with altered neuronal and glial cell functions in the spinal cord. Activated glia produces algogenic mediators, exacerbating pain. Among the different intracellular pathways possibly involved in the modified glial function, the nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) system is of particular interest, as numerous genes encoding inflammation- and pain-related molecules are controlled by this transcription factor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Aldosterone, the final mediator of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone pathway, is at its highest plasma levels at presentation for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Whether aldosterone level at presentation for STEMI is associated with adverse outcome remains unknown.
Methods And Results: Plasma aldosterone levels were measured at presentation in consecutive patients referred for primary percutaneous coronary intervention for STEMI.
Keeping in mind the increased pain complaints reported in anxious or depressive patients, our goal was to investigate in rats the consequences of an experimentally provoked state of anxiety/depression on pain behavior and on its underlying mechanisms. We therefore used a model of social defeat consisting of a 30 min protected confrontation followed by a 15 min physical confrontation, repeated during 4 d, that elicited symptoms close to those observed in humans with anxiety or depression. Indeed, 5 d later, animals subjected to social-defeat confrontation were characterized by a decrease of sweet-water consumption and of body weight, and a hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, suggesting that the social-defeat procedure induced a prolonged state of anxiety.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe involvement of cholecystokinin (CCK) in the potential anxiolytic-like effects of melatonin and of the antitumor MT(1/2) receptor agonist, S23478, was assessed by measuring the cortical outflow of CCK-like material (CCKLM) in a rat model of anticipation of social defeat. After repeated social defeats by a male Tryon Maze Dull (TMD) rat, Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were implanted for microdialysis in the frontal cortex and placed in the same environment as for the defeated sessions, but no confrontation with the TMD rat was allowed. Anticipation of social defeat induced anxiety-like behaviors (immobility, ultrasonic vocalization, defensive postures) associated with a significant increase (approximately +90%) in cortical CCKLM outflow in SD rats.
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