1
|
Abouseta N, Gomaa N, Tassi A, Elzagallaai AA, Rieder MJ, Dixon SJ, Pani SC. Relationships among Cortisol, Perceived Stress, and Dental Caries Experience in Adolescents and Young Adults. Caries Res 2024; 58:421-430. [PMID: 38657570 DOI: 10.1159/000539041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Stress can impact mental and physical health, especially during adolescence and young adulthood, but the extent of its contribution to dental caries is poorly understood. The present study assessed the association between perceived stress, cortisol levels (in hair and saliva), and overall caries experience of adolescents and young adults aged 15-25 years. METHODS Hair and saliva samples were obtained from 93 participants free of periodontal disease. Cortisol in hair and saliva was determined using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Participants completed a perceived stress questionnaire and underwent full-mouth oral examination by a calibrated examiner. Dental caries experience was based on the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index. Sociodemographic variables were also recorded. RESULTS There were significantly higher hair cortisol levels and perceived stress scale (PSS) scores in individuals with dental caries experience (DMFT≥1) than in those without (DMFT = 0). However, there was no significant difference in salivary cortisol concentration. A binary logistic regression revealed that higher hair cortisol levels and greater scores on the perceived stress scale were associated with increased odds of having experienced dental caries. In contrast, no significant association was found between salivary cortisol concentration and dental caries. Using multivariable regression models, caries experience was found to be significantly associated with both hair cortisol levels and PSS scores. These associations remained statistically significant even after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. CONCLUSION Hair cortisol levels and perceived stress have a significant association with dental caries experience, whereas salivary cortisol concentrations do not.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Naima Abouseta
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Noha Gomaa
- Oral Diagnostic Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
- Children's Health Research Institute, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ali Tassi
- Graduate Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Abdelbaset A Elzagallaai
- Drug Safety Lab, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michael J Rieder
- Departments of Paediatrics, Physiology and Pharmacology, and Medicine, Schulich Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - S Jeffrey Dixon
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sharat Chandra Pani
- Schulich Dentistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
- Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Pediatric Dentistry, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bilal H, McDonald SJ, Stout JC, Harding IH. Associations of inflammatory cytokines and cortisol with nonmotor features of Huntington's disease. Ann Clin Transl Neurol 2024; 11:989-999. [PMID: 38356101 PMCID: PMC11021624 DOI: 10.1002/acn3.52016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease involving progressive motor abnormalities, cognitive decline, and psychiatric disturbances. Depression and cognitive difficulties are among the most impactful symptoms of HD, yet the pathogenesis of these symptoms is not fully understood. HD involves low-level chronic inflammation and dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which are linked to depression and cognitive impairment in non-HD populations. However, previous research on the relationships of these pathologies with depression and cognition in HD is limited and inconsistent. METHODS Fifty-three adults with the HD gene expansion (30 premanifest and 23 manifest) completed measures of depression and cognitive functioning. Forty-eight out of 53 participants provided hair samples for quantification of cortisol, and 34 participants provided blood samples for quantification of peripheral inflammatory cytokines. We examined the associations of four cytokines (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-10, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α) and cortisol levels with depression and cognitive scores. RESULTS In unadjusted models, higher levels of plasma IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α correlated with higher depression scores, and higher levels of IL-10 and TNF-α correlated with poorer cognitive performance. After controlling for age, sex, and body mass index, only the correlations of IL-10 with depression and cognitive performance remained significant. No correlations were evident with hair cortisol. INTERPRETATIONS Peripheral inflammation is associated with depression symptoms and cognitive impairment in HD. Our findings suggest that interactions between the immune and nervous systems are important in HD, and highlight the potential of chronic inflammation as a therapeutic target in early stages of HD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hiba Bilal
- School of Psychological Sciences, and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental HealthMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
| | - Stuart J. McDonald
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical SchoolMonash UniversityPrahranVictoriaAustralia
| | - Julie C. Stout
- School of Psychological Sciences, and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental HealthMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
| | - Ian H. Harding
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical SchoolMonash UniversityPrahranVictoriaAustralia
- Monash Biomedical ImagingMonash UniversityClaytonVictoriaAustralia
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Aizpurua-Perez I, Arregi A, Labaka A, Martinez-Villar A, Perez-Tejada J. Psychological resilience and cortisol levels in adults: A systematic review. Am J Hum Biol 2023; 35:e23954. [PMID: 37395446 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Resilience or the capacity to "bend but not break" refers to the ability to maintain or regain psychobiological equilibrium during or after exposure to stressful life events. Specifically, resilience has been proposed as a potential resource for staving off pathological states that often emerge after exposure to repeated stress and that are related to alterations in circulating cortisol. The aim of this systematic review of the literature was to gather evidence related to the relationship between psychological resilience and cortisol levels in adult humans. An extensive systematic search was carried out following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method in the PubMed and Web of Science databases. In total, 1256 articles were identified and, of these, 35 peer-reviewed articles were included in the systematic review. We categorized findings according to (1) the short and long-term secretion period covered by the cortisol matrices selected by studies and also according to (2) the differentiated diurnal, phasic (acute), and tonic (basal) components of the HPA output to which they refer and their relationships with resilience. Reported relationships between psychological resilience and distinct cortisol output parameters varied widely across studies, finding positive, negative, and null associations between the two variables. Notably, several of the studies that found no relationship between resilience and cortisol used a single morning saliva or plasma sample as their assessment of HPA axis activity. Despite limitations such as the great variability of the instruments and methods used by the studies to measure both resilience and cortisol, together with their high heterogeneity and small sample sizes, the evidence found in this systematic review points to the potential of resilience as a modifiable key factor to modulate the physiological response to stress. Therefore, further exploration of the interaction between the two variables is necessary for the eventual development of future interventions aimed at promoting resilience as an essential component of health prevention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ibane Aizpurua-Perez
- Department of Basic Psychological Processes and their Development, University of the Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Amaia Arregi
- Department of Basic Psychological Processes and their Development, University of the Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Ainitze Labaka
- Department of Nursing II, University of the Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
Jacobsen HB, Brun A, Stubhaug A, Reme SE. Stress specifically deteriorates working memory in peripheral neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad194. [PMID: 37465756 PMCID: PMC10351603 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to explore the influence of chronic stress, measured through hair cortisol, on executive functions in individuals with chronic pain. We expected that there would be significant differences in chronic stress and executive functioning between pain patients and healthy controls, as well as between primary and secondary pain classifications. We also hypothesized that hair cortisol concentration was predictive of worse performance on tests of executive functions, controlling for objective and subjective covariates. For this study, 122 participants provided a hair sample (n = 40 with fibromyalgia; n = 24 with peripheral neuropathic pain; n = 58 matched healthy controls). Eighty-four of these participants also completed highly detailed testing of executive functions (n = 40 with fibromyalgia; n = 24 with peripheral neuropathic pain; n = 20 healthy controls). To assess differences in stress levels and executive functions, t-tests were used to compare patients with controls as well as fibromyalgia with peripheral neuropathic pain. Then, univariate regressions were used to explore associations between stress and executive functioning in both chronic pain classifications. Any significant univariate associations were carried over to hierarchical multivariate regression models. We found that patients with chronic pain had significantly higher cortisol levels than healthy controls, but all groups showed similar executive functioning. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses disclosed that in a model controlling for age, sex and pain medication usage, hair cortisol levels explained 8% of the variance in spatial working memory strategy in individuals with chronic pain. The overall model explained 24% of the variance in spatial working memory. In a second model using imputed data, including both objective and subjectively reported covariates, hair cortisol levels explained 9% of the variance, and the full model 31% of the variance in spatial working memory performance. Higher levels of cortisol indicated worse performance. In this study, an applied measure of chronic stress, namely hair cortisol, explained a substantial part of the variance on a spatial working memory task. The current results have important implications for understanding and treating cognitive impairments in chronic pain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Henrik Børsting Jacobsen
- The Mind Body Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo 0373, Norway
- Department of Pain Management and Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0853, Norway
| | - Aurora Brun
- The Mind Body Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo 0373, Norway
| | - Audun Stubhaug
- Department of Pain Management and Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0853, Norway
| | - Silje Endresen Reme
- The Mind Body Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo 0373, Norway
- Department of Pain Management and Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0853, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Fitzgerald ES, Stout JC, Glikmann-Johnston Y, Anderson C, Jackson ML. Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Cognitive Dysfunction in Huntington's Disease. J Huntingtons Dis 2023; 12:293-304. [PMID: 37599535 DOI: 10.3233/jhd-230578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In healthy people, sleep and circadian disruption are linked to cognitive deficits. People with Huntington's disease (HD), who have compromised brain function and sleep and circadian disturbances, may be even more susceptible to these cognitive effects. OBJECTIVE To conduct a comprehensive review and synthesis of the literature in HD on the associations of cognitive dysfunction with disturbed sleep and circadian rhythms. METHODS We searched MEDLINE via OVID, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE via OVID, and PubMed in May 2023. The first author then screened by title and abstract and conducted a full review of remaining articles. RESULTS Eight studies investigating the influence of sleep and/or circadian rhythms on cognitive function in HD were found. In manifest HD, poorer sleep was associated with worse cognitive function. For behavioral 24-hour (circadian) rhythms, two studies indicated that later wake times correlated with poorer cognitive function. No reported studies in HD examined altered physiological 24-hour (circadian) rhythms and cognitive impairment. CONCLUSION Some associations exist between poor sleep and cognitive dysfunction in manifest HD, yet whether these associations are present before clinical diagnosis is unknown. Whether circadian disturbances relate to cognitive impairment in HD also remains undetermined. To inform sleep and circadian interventions aimed at improving cognitive symptoms in HD, future research should include a range of disease stages, control for external factors, and utilize robust cognitive batteries targeted to the aspects of cognitive function known to be adversely affected in HD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Fitzgerald
- School of Psychological Sciences, and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Julie C Stout
- School of Psychological Sciences, and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Yifat Glikmann-Johnston
- School of Psychological Sciences, and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Clare Anderson
- School of Psychological Sciences, and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Melinda L Jackson
- School of Psychological Sciences, and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Current Diagnostic Methods and Non-Coding RNAs as Possible Biomarkers in Huntington’s Disease. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13112017. [PMID: 36360254 PMCID: PMC9689996 DOI: 10.3390/genes13112017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Whether as a cause or a symptom, RNA transcription is recurrently altered in pathologic conditions. This is also true for non-coding RNAs, with regulatory functions in a variety of processes such as differentiation, cell identity and metabolism. In line with their increasingly recognized roles in cellular pathways, RNAs are also currently evaluated as possible disease biomarkers. They could be informative not only to follow disease progression and assess treatment efficacy in clinics, but also to aid in the development of new therapeutic approaches. This is especially important for neurological and genetic disorders, where the administration of appropriate treatment during the disease prodromal stage could significantly delay, if not halt, disease progression. In this review we focus on the current status of biomarkers in Huntington’s Disease (HD), a fatal hereditary and degenerative disease condition. First, we revise the sources and type of wet biomarkers currently in use. Then, we explore the feasibility of different RNA types (miRNA, ncRNA, circRNA) as possible biomarker candidates, discussing potential advantages, disadvantages, sources of origin and the ongoing investigations on this topic.
Collapse
|
7
|
Environmental stimulation in Huntington disease patients and animal models. Neurobiol Dis 2022; 171:105725. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2022.105725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
|