"I'm Ready This Time": Investigating physiological and emotional habituation to repetitive social stress.

Background: Repetitive stress is at the nexus of acute and chronic stress, and there is limited knowledge about how physiological and emotional responses change with repeated exposure.

Purpose: We examined stress-related biomarkers and emotional responses to repeated social stressors, and we tested behavioral moderators.

Methods: In Study 1, 42 adults completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) twice, 4 months apart.

Psychoneuroimmunology and the research of Janice Kiecolt-Glaser: It informs self-care and the practice of medicine.

Dr. Janice Kiecolt-Glaser as an undergraduate obtained a major in psychology and a minor in biological sciences which was an early indication of her budding interest in how the brain talks to a variety of physiologic systems. Early in her research career Jan began to build a research team that eventually consisted of scientists with expertise in a variety of disciplines including virology, immunology, endocrinology, nutrition science, biostatistics, genetics, and the microbiome.

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.

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.

Your suffering is my stressor: Proinflammatory gene expression rises with spousal distress in middle-aged and older couples.

Marital quality shares ties to inflammation-related conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Lab-based studies implicate hostility during marital conflict as a mechanism via inflammatory reactivity, but little attention has been paid to the inflammatory aftermath of other marital exchanges. A spouse's emotional distress is an important but overlooked context for middle-aged and older couples, as conflict declines and networks shrink.

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.

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.

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.

Distal Biceps Tendon Rupture Videos on YouTube: An Analysis of Video Content and Quality.

Purpose: Our purpose was to analyze the content and quality of YouTube videos related to distal biceps tendon (DBT) ruptures and repair. We aimed to compare differences between academic and nonacademic video sources.

Methods: The most popular YouTube videos related to DBT injuries were compiled and analyzed according to source.

Breast cancer survivors' typhoid vaccine responses: Chemotherapy, obesity, and fitness make a difference.

Purpose: To investigate breast cancer survivors' inflammatory responses to typhoid vaccine as a window into their innate immune response to novel pathogens.

Methods: This double-blind crossover trial randomized 158 breast cancer survivors to either the vaccine/saline placebo or the placebo/vaccine sequence. The relative contributions of age, cardiorespiratory fitness (VO), type of cancer treatment, central obesity, and depression to interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), and WBC vaccine responses were assessed pre-injection and 1.

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.

Distress Trajectories in Black and White Breast Cancer Survivors: From Diagnosis to Survivorship.

Background: Black breast cancer survivors have greater morbidity and mortality than White survivors. However, evidence comparing Black survivors' psychological symptoms with their White counterparts has been mixed. Prior studies have not compared Black and White survivor's distress-related symptom trajectories from pre- to post-treatment - the goal of the current study.

Omega-3 supplementation and stress reactivity of cellular aging biomarkers: an ancillary substudy of a randomized, controlled trial in midlife adults.

Higher levels of omega-3 track with longer telomeres, lower inflammation, and blunted sympathetic and cardiovascular stress reactivity. Whether omega-3 supplementation alters the stress responsivity of telomerase, cortisol, and inflammation is unknown. This randomized, controlled trial examined the impact of omega-3 supplementation on cellular aging-related biomarkers following a laboratory speech stressor.

The gut reaction to couples' relationship troubles: A route to gut dysbiosis through changes in depressive symptoms.

The gut microbiota plays a role in a wide range of diseases and disorders, with low microbial diversity and richness emerging as notable risk factors. This longitudinal study addressed the impact of marital quality (assessed by the Couples Satisfaction Index) on changes in depressive symptoms, and gut diversity, richness, and permeability. On two occasions an average of 90 days apart, 162 people provided stool and blood samples, and completed questionnaires.

Endotoxemia coupled with heightened inflammation predicts future depressive symptoms.

Objective: Cross-sectional data have linked gut barrier abnormalities and endotoxemia with depression, even among those without gastrointestinal symptoms. This study examined longitudinal associations between endotoxemia markers and depressive symptoms, as well as the role of inflammation in this relationship.

Design: At three annual visits, 315 women (n=209 breast cancer survivors, n = 106 non-cancer patient controls, M=55 years old) completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression questionnaire (CES-D) and provided blood samples to assess inflammatory markers - interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and C-reactive protein - and endotoxemia markers - lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), soluble CD14 (sCD14), and their ratio.

Childhood abuse histories predict steeper inflammatory trajectories across time.

Background: The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recently named childhood abuse histories as a public health risk. Clear links between abuse histories and inflammation exist. However, it remains unknown how abuse histories impact inflammatory trajectories throughout adulthood.