Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0848237 (acute stress)
 4,619 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Acute stress results in activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. ACTH and cortisol secretion is stimulated by corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). It has also been shown that activation of the HPA axis during stress is accompanied by changes in the immune response. However, little is known about the influence of acute stress on the release of cytokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1) or interleukin-2 (IL-2). In this study, we determined serum IL-1 alpha and IL-2 levels in 19 patients undergoing the acute stress of angioplasty for coronary artery disease. A second protocol was devised to determine serum IL-1 alpha and IL-2 concentrations as well as lymphocyte subpopulations in 10 normal volunteers receiving 1 microgram kg-1 human CRH intravenously. Finally, IL-1 alpha concentrations were measured in CRH-incubated mononuclear cell (MNC) and monocyte cultures. In response to the stress of angioplasty, ACTH and cortisol as well as IL-1 alpha and IL-2 concentrations were clearly above baseline levels (IL-1 alpha, mean +/- SEM, baseline: 1.39 +/- 0.34 ng ml-1, after angioplasty: 2.64 +/- 0.73 ng ml-1, P < 0.05; IL-2, baseline: 1.2 +/- 0.13 ng ml-1, after angioplasty: 2.8 +/- 1.14 ng ml, P < 0.05). A similar pattern was obtained in normal subjects in response to CRH (Il-1 alpha, baseline: 0.8 +/- 0.2 ng ml-1, after angioplasty: 3.7 +/- 1.4 ng ml-1, P < 0.05; IL-2, baseline: 1.9 +/- 0.4 ng ml-1, after angioplasty: 5.4 +/- 2.2 ng ml-1, P < 0.02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Systemic interleukin-1 alpha and interleukin-2 secretion in response to acute stress and to corticotropin-releasing hormone in humans. 789 16

A tight, physiological link between the pineal gland and the immune system is emerging from a series of experimental studies. This link might reflect the evolutionary connection between self-recognition and reproduction. Pinealectomy or other experimental methods which inhibit melatonin synthesis and secretion induce a state of immunodepression which is counteracted by melatonin. In general, melatonin seems to have an immunoenhancing effect that is particularly apparent in immunodepressive states. The negative effect of acute stress or immunosuppressive pharmacological treatments on various immune parameters are counteracted by melatonin. It seems important to note that one of the main targets of melatonin is the thymus, i.e., the central organ of the immune system. The clinical use of melatonin as an immunotherapeutic agent seems promising in primary and secondary immunodeficiencies as well as in cancer immunotherapy. The immunoenhancing action of melatonin seems to be mediated by T-helper cell-derived opioid peptides as well as by lymphokines and, perhaps, by pituitary hormones. Melatonin-induced-immuno-opioids (MIIO) and lymphokines imply the presence of specific binding sites or melatonin receptors on cells of the immune system. On the other hand, lymphokines such as gamma-interferon and interleukin-2 as well as thymic hormones can modulate the synthesis of melatonin in the pineal gland. The pineal gland might thus be viewed as the crux of a sophisticated immunoneuroendocrine network which functions as an unconscious, diffuse sensory organ.
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PMID:The immunoneuroendocrine role of melatonin. 848 3

In the past several years, interest in the immunophysiological role of the pineal gland and melatonin has grown to the extent that now their immunoregulatory role is widely recognized. Melatonin has immunoenhancing properties and it is able to counteract the immunodepression induced by acute stress, drug treatment (i.e., anticancer drugs), and viral infections. Here we review the therapeutic efficacy of melatonin alone or in combination with interleukin-2 (IL-2) in cancer patients who did not respond to standard anticancer chemotherapies and/or refused any aggressive treatment. In this review, we summarize a series of reports from 1986 through 1994 in which patients affected by metastatic solid tumors, metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, advanced solid neoplasms, myelodysplastic syndrome, hepatocellular carcinoma, and advanced endocrine tumors were studied. The conclusion drawn from these studies is that melatonin protects against IL-2 and synergizes with the IL-2 anticancer action. This combined strategy represents a well tolerated intervention to control tumor growth. In most cases performance status and quality of life seem improved.
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PMID:The clinical neuroimmunotherapeutic role of melatonin in oncology. 875 Mar 42

Expression of heat shock proteins Hsp27, Hsp90, and Hsp70 and production of tumor necrosis factors (TNF-alpha, TNF-beta), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-2, -3, -6, and nitric oxide (NO) were studied under conditions of acute and chronic intoxication of animals with lipopolysaccharides. Injection of endotoxin increased expression of heat shock proteins Hsp70 and Hsp90-alpha in mouse cells. Acute toxic stress also provoked a sharp increase in the production of TNF-alpha, TNF-beta, and NO in mouse cells. The production of other cytokines (interleukins and IFN-gamma) was changed insignificantly. In the model of chronic toxic stress, changes in the production of Hsp70, Hsp90, TNF, and NO were followed during 11 days after the beginning of the toxin injections. The expression of Hsp70 and Hsp90 in acute stress was significantly higher than at the final stage of the chronic exposure. The changes in the TNF and NO productions, on one hand, and the production of heat shock proteins, on the other hand, were synchronous. The findings indicate that repeated injections of increasing endotoxin doses result in a decreased ability of the body cells to respond to stress by overproduction of heat shock proteins, TNF, and NO.
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PMID:Production of heat shock proteins, cytokines, and nitric oxide in toxic stress. 1661 57

The individual and combined antistress effects of the fruit of Schizandra chinensis and the radix of Scutellaria baicalensis were evaluated using a mouse acute stress model. Stress consisted of immobilization and electric foot shocks over 5 days. Mice were treated with herbal extracts for 7 days before exposing the animals to stress. Before each stressor presentation, the mice were treated with each herbal extract. Reduced locomotor activity and the percentage of time spent in the open arms of an elevated plus-maze under stress were recovered by treatment with the extract containing equal amounts of S. chinensis and S. baicalensis (CB11) at 200 and 400 mg/kg (p < 0.05). The effects of CB11 were greater than the effects of S. chinensis or S. baicalensis alone. CB11 treatment (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) significantly reduced serum corticosterone levels (p < 0.05). Spleen size and the serum interleukin-2 level decreases induced by stress were prevented by CB11 (200 mg/kg) (p < 0.05). Taken together, these results suggest that S. chinensis and S. baicalensis in equal amounts could be used to treat stress disorders, in part, by preventing corticosterone and IL-2 level changes and ameliorating stress-related behavior parameters.
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PMID:Schizandra chinensis and Scutellaria baicalensis counter stress behaviors in mice. 1763 60

The immune-suppression caused by acute stress can be reduced by a regular practice of moderate exercise which is known to modulate the expression of secretory-IgA. This antibody is essential for protection against infections and maintenance of homeostasis at the mucosal level. In order to explore the effects of moderate exercise on secretory-IgA production in ileum of the small intestine, 2 groups of mice were submitted to this protocol for 6 months, an exercise group and a sedentary group. After sacrifice, levels of secretory-IgA in intestinal fluid and levels of adrenal hormones in serum were determined by enzyme immunoenzymatic assay. IgA-plasma cells in lamina propria were evaluated by flow cytometry. Transcriptional mRNA expression in mucosa of alpha-chain, J-chain, pIgR and cytokines (Interleukin-2, -4, -6, -10, transforming growth factor-beta, interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor) were determined by RT-PCR. In comparison with sedentary mice, moderate exercised mice displayed an up-regulating effect on the production of secretory-IgA and IgA-plasma cells, on the expression of all mRNA transcripts from secretory-IgA associated proteins, and on all cytokines tested. However, serum levels of adrenal hormones were not altered. Future studies on secretory-IgA production are necessary to support the substantive effect of moderate exercise on protection and homeostasis at the intestinal level.
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PMID:Moderate exercise enhances expression of SIgA in mouse ileum. 2270 46

The goal of this study was to develop and validate a measure of maximal telomerase activity capacity (mTAC) for use in human studies of telomere biology, and to determine its association with measures of stress and stress responsivity. The study was conducted in a population of 28 healthy young women and men who were assessed serially across two separate days, at multiple time points, and in response to a standardized laboratory stressor. Venous blood was collected at each of these multiple assessments, and an in vitro mitogen challenge (phytohaemagglutinin supplemented with interleukin-2) was used to stimulate telomerase activity in leucocytes. After first establishing the optimal post-stimulation time course to characterize mTAC, we determined the within-subject stability and the between-subject variability of mTAC. The major findings of our study are as follows: (i) the optimal time point to quantify human leucocyte mTAC appears to be at 72 h after mitogen stimulation; (ii) mTAC exhibits substantial within-subject stability (correlations were in the range of r 0.68-0.82) and between-subject variability, with a high intra-class coefficient (0.70), indicating greater between-subject relative to within-subject variability; (iii) mTAC is not influenced by situational factors including time of day, cortisol, acute stress exposure and immune cell distribution in the pre-stimulation blood sample; and (iv) a significant proportion of the between-subject variability in mTAC is associated with measures of stress and stress responsivity (mTAC is lower in subjects reporting higher levels of perceived (chronic) stress and exhibiting higher psychophysiological stress reactivity). Based collectively on these findings, it appears that mTAC, as proposed and operationalized, empirically meets the key criteria to represent a potentially useful individual difference measure of telomerase activity capacity of human leucocytes.This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding diversity in telomere dynamics'.
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PMID:Characterization in humans of in vitro leucocyte maximal telomerase activity capacity and association with stress. 2933 65