Inflammation, Sickness Behaviour and Depression

AbstractHuman physiological arousal is highly sensitive to information and uncertainty. Little is known, however, about how to measure information in natural settings, nor about which physiological systems respond to it. Financial market prices, and their volatility, present a convenient measure of informational load. Here we report on a study into the physiological response of traders in the City of London during a period of extreme, but declining, volatility. We sampled salivary cortisol, the main stress hormone, and the pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α three times a day for two weeks. We found that average daily cortisol levels tracked closely an index of equity and bond volatility, as did levels of IL-1β. Within-day cortisol and IL-1β levels also tracked one hour lagged volatility. Interestingly, the cascade of endocrine and immunological changes was initiated by IL-1β, the first responder of the stress and inflammatory responses. Our results have implications for finance because chronic stress and the immune response known as ‘sickness behaviour’ could have powerful effects on risk-taking and market stability.

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THE ROLE OF TYPE-I INTERFERONS IN POLY I:C INDUCED SICKNESS BEHAVIOUR

Frontiers in Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/conf.fnins.2014.87.00036 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Murray Carol ◽

O Loughlin Elaine ◽

Cunningham Colm

Keyword(s):

Type I Interferons ◽

Poly I:C ◽

Type I ◽

Sickness Behaviour

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Abstract #4295 Effective connectivity within the insula mediates the association between inflammation and human sickness behaviour

Brain Behavior and Immunity ◽

10.1016/j.bbi.2019.08.085 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 81 ◽

pp. 24 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

K. Stefanov ◽

J. McLean ◽

B. Allan ◽

N. Basu ◽

J. Cavanagh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Effective Connectivity ◽

Sickness Behaviour

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Cross-sectional associations between inflammation, sickness behaviour, health anxiety and self-rated health in a Swedish primary care population

European Journal of Inflammation ◽

10.1177/2058739219844357 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 ◽

pp. 205873921984435 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Karin Lodin ◽

Mats Lekander ◽

Predrag Petrovic ◽

Gustav Nilsonne ◽

Erik Hedman-Lagerlöf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Interleukin 6 ◽

Health Anxiety ◽

Health State ◽

Sickness Behaviour ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Primary Care Population ◽

Self Rated Health ◽

Primary Care Patients ◽

Low Levels

This study investigated associations between inflammatory markers, sickness behaviour, health anxiety and self-rated health in 311 consecutive primary care patients. Poor self-rated health was associated with high sickness behaviour ( ρ = 0.28, P < 0.001; ρ = 0.42, P = 0.003) and high health anxiety ( ρ = 0.31, P < 0.001; ρ = –0.32, P = 0.003). High levels of interleukin 6 were associated with poor self-rated health in men ( ρ = 0.26, P = 0.009). Low levels of interleukin-6 were associated with poor self-rated health in women ( ρ = –0.15, P = 0.04), but this association was non-significant when adjusted for health anxiety ( ρ = –0.08, P = 0.31). These results are consistent with the theory that interoceptive processes draw on both inflammatory mediators and the state of sickness behaviour in inferring health state.

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Acute sickness behaviour: an immune system-to-brain communication?

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291701003841 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 31 (5) ◽

pp. 761-767 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

UTÉ VOLLMER-CONNA

Keyword(s):

Immune System ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Large Body ◽

Adaptive Function ◽

Sickness Behaviour ◽

Specific Symptom ◽

Seminal Paper ◽

The Subject ◽

Underlying Mechanisms ◽

The Brain

Over the past 20 years, psychoneuroimmunological research has produced a large body of evidence that challenges the historically dominant view that the immune system operates in an autonomous manner independent of other physiological systems. Today, there is little doubt that the brain and the immune system are intimately linked and capable of reciprocal communication (Ader et al. 1991). Despite the acknowledged bi-directional nature of the brain–immune system connection, the predominant focus of study has been on the effects of psychological and behavioural events (e.g. stress) on immune responses and disease processes, and the mechanisms underlying such effects (see Kusnekov & Rabin, 1994; Maier et al. 1994; Rozlog et al. 1999). However, considerable interest in the possibilities of immune-system-to-brain communication was initiated by a seminal paper considering the biological basis of behaviour in sick animals (Hart, 1988). Subsequently, the immunological determinants of the behavioural, cognitive and emotional changes associated with acute illness, as well as with more chronic psychopathological states (e.g. depression) have become the subject of rapidly expanding areas of research (e.g. Kent et al. 1992; Lloyd et al. 1992; Hickie & Lloyd, 1995; Maes et al. 1995a; Rothwell & Hopkins, 1995; Dantzer et al. 1996; Maier & Watkins, 1998; Vollmer-Conna et al. 1998; Maes, 1999).The main objective of this editorial is to provide a succinct overview of current knowledge of the normal behavioural correlates of acute infective illness, their adaptive function and underlying mechanisms. Elucidation of the processes involved in the appearance, maintenance and inhibition of ‘normal’ sickness behaviour is important if extrapolations from this phenomenon to more chronic psychopathological conditions are to provide more than a new label for poorly understood non-specific symptom clusters.

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