scholarly journals The Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Family: Physiology of the Stress Response

2018 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 2225-2286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan M. Deussing ◽  
Alon Chen
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Corticotropin Releasing Factor ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Molecular Features ◽  
The Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Physiological Stress Response

The physiological stress response is responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis in the presence of real or perceived challenges. In this function, the brain activates adaptive responses that involve numerous neural circuits and effector molecules to adapt to the current and future demands. A maladaptive stress response has been linked to the etiology of a variety of disorders, such as anxiety and mood disorders, eating disorders, and the metabolic syndrome. The neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and its relatives, the urocortins 1–3, in concert with their receptors (CRFR1, CRFR2), have emerged as central components of the physiological stress response. This central peptidergic system impinges on a broad spectrum of physiological processes that are the basis for successful adaptation and concomitantly integrate autonomic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral stress responses. This review focuses on the physiology of CRF-related peptides and their cognate receptors with the aim of providing a comprehensive up-to-date overview of the field. We describe the major molecular features covering aspects of gene expression and regulation, structural properties, and molecular interactions, as well as mechanisms of signal transduction and their surveillance. In addition, we discuss the large body of published experimental studies focusing on state-of-the-art genetic approaches with high temporal and spatial precision, which collectively aimed to dissect the contribution of CRF-related ligands and receptors to different levels of the stress response. We discuss the controversies in the field and unravel knowledge gaps that might pave the way for future research directions and open up novel opportunities for therapeutic intervention.

Urinary corticosterone metabolite responses to capture and visual elastomer tagging in the Asian toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

2019 ◽  
pp. 179-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Enzyme Immunoassay ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Saline Control ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Duttaphrynus Melanostictus ◽  
Physiological Stress Response ◽  
Routine Handling

Herpetological research involving amphibians is increasingly using mark and recapture methods, employing various techniques such as toe-clipping and visible implant alphanumeric tags. Visual Implant Elastomer (VIE) is a new method available for herpetological surveys, involving a coloured dye inserted into the epidermal skin surface of frogs. Previously, there has been only one study which demonstrated that the VIE method does not generate a significant physiological stress response (using a faecal glucocorticoid method) in a captive amphibian species. Physiological stress can also be quantified non-invasively using urinary corticosterone metabolite (UCM) enzyme-immunoassay in amphibians. In this study, we tested the physiological stress response of a common amphibian species, wild caught Asian toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus), by comparing UCM responses to capture handling, sham control or VIE marking method. Adult males (n = 38) were captured and sampled for baseline UCM (t = 0 h) then marked either using the VIE or sham (saline control), or only handled during capture. Subsequently, urine samples were collected at t = 2, 12 and 24 h for toads within each group. UCM levels were quantified using an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to determine differences among treatment groups and over time following capture. Toads generated acute stress responses to all three groups, showing a change in UCMs between baseline samples, 12 h, and 24 h samples. The mean UCM levels were not significantly different between the VIE method and the control groups (capture handling or sham operated). These results indicate that VIE method of tagging is no more stressful than routine handling of amphibians, hence in this context, the method does not have any additional welfare implications. Future research should explore the limitations of VIE tagging for long-term mark recapture studies, however, our current findings support its application as a minimally-invasive method for marking amphibians.

Stress and Substance Misuse

2020 ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
James M. Bjork ◽  
Nicholas D. Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Chronic Administration ◽  
Behavioral Repertoire ◽  
Physiological Stress Response ◽  
Response Systems

Stress is both a critical contributor and consequence of substance use disorder (SUD). First, exaggerated subjective stress responses are characteristic of affective symptomatology such as depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (sometimes stemming from histories of abuse) that have been prognostic of development of addiction in longitudinal studies. Substance use is negatively reinforced in many at-risk and addicted individuals because it may acutely alleviate stress. Second, chronic administration of commonly abused substances alters physiological stress response systems, especially during acute withdrawal. Third, acute stress responses blunt the addicted individual’s frontocortically mediated behavioral repertoire (solution space) in favor of reflexive behavioral biases toward relief-based substance use. Therefore, acute stress responses are a strong trigger for relapse to substance use during extended recovery. These findings have collectively led to approaches to SUD relapse prevention that pharmacologically blunt components of the stress response, but these agents have not reliably shown success in human clinical trials. This chapter reviews these different relationships between stress and addiction and offers future avenues for additional research.

scholarly journals Does Physiological Stress Slow Down Wound Healing in Patients With Diabetes?

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 685-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javad Razjouyan ◽  
Gurtej Singh Grewal ◽  
Talal K. Talal ◽  
David G. Armstrong ◽  
Joseph L. Mills ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wound Healing ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Vagal Tone ◽  
Clinical Information ◽  
Classification Performance ◽  
Susceptibility To Infection ◽  
Physiological Stress Response ◽  
Patients With Diabetes

Background: Poor healing is an important contributing factor to amputation among patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). Physiological stress may slow wound healing and increase susceptibility to infection. Objectives: The objective was to examine the association between heart rate variability (HRV) as an indicator of physiological stress response and healing speed (HealSpeed) among outpatients with active DFUs. Design and Methods: Ambulatory patients with diabetes with DFUs (n = 25, age: 59.3 ± 8.3 years) were recruited. HRV during pre–wound dressing was measured using a wearable sensor attached to participants’ chest. HRVs were quantified in both time and frequency domains to assess physiological stress response and vagal tone (relaxation). Change in wound size between two consecutive visits was used to estimate HealSpeed. Participants were then categorized into slow healing and fast healing groups. Between the two groups, comparisons were performed for demographic, clinical, and HRV derived parameters. Associations between different descriptors of HRV and HealSpeed were also assessed. Results: HealSpeed was significantly correlated with both vagal tone ( r = –.705, P = .001) and stress response ( r = .713, P = .001) extracted from frequency domain. No between-group differences were observed except those from HRV-derived parameters. Models based on HRVs were the highest predictors of slow/fast HealSpeed (AUC > 0.90), while models based on demographic and clinical information had poor classification performance (AUC = 0.44). Conclusion: This study confirms an association between stress/vagal tone and wound healing in patients with DFUs. In particular, it highlights the importance of vagal tone (relaxation) in expediting wound healing. It also demonstrates the feasibility of assessing physiological stress responses using wearable technology in outpatient clinic during routine clinic visits.

scholarly journals Electric shock causes physiological stress responses in shore crabs, consistent with prediction of pain

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 20150800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Elwood ◽  
Laura Adams
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Electric Shock ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Pain Experience ◽  
Motivational Change ◽  
Animal Pain ◽  
Physiological Stress Response ◽  
Shore Crabs

Animal pain is defined by a series of expectations or criteria, one of which is that there should be a physiological stress response associated with noxious stimuli. While crustacean stress responses have been demonstrated they are typically preceded by escape behaviour and thus the physiological change might be attributed to the behaviour rather than a pain experience. We found higher levels of stress as measured by lactate in shore crabs exposed to brief electric shock than non-shocked controls. However, shocked crabs showed more vigorous behaviour than controls. We then matched crabs with the same level of behaviour and still found that shocked crabs had stronger stress response compared with controls. The finding of the stress response, coupled with previous findings of long-term motivational change and avoidance learning, fulfils the criteria expected of a pain experience.

scholarly journals Exposure to boat noise in the field yields minimal stress response in wild reef fish

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Staaterman ◽  
AJ Gallagher ◽  
PE Holder ◽  
CH Reid ◽  
AH Altieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Reef Fish ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Anthropogenic Noise ◽  
Noisy Environment ◽  
Physiological Stress Response ◽  
Minimal Stress

Aquatic anthropogenic noise is on the rise, with growing concern about its impact on species that are sensitive to low-frequency sounds (e.g. most fish and invertebrates). We investigated whether the reef fish Halichoeres bivittatus living in both noisy and quiet areas had differing levels of baseline stress (measured as whole-body cortisol) and whether they would exhibit a physiological stress response when exposed to boat noise playbacks. While the playback experiments significantly increased cortisol levels in fish from our experiment compared to baseline levels, there were minimal pairwise differences across treatments and no difference in baseline stress for fish living in noisy vs. quiet areas. These results may be explained by low overall auditory sensitivity, habituation to a fairly noisy environment (due to biological sounds), or that boat noise simply may not represent an immediate threat to survival in this species. These findings contrast recent studies that have shown elevated stress responses in fishes when exposed to boat noise and highlights that inter-specific differences must be considered when evaluating potential impacts of anthropogenic noise on marine life.

Chemosensory detection of predators by coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): behavioural reaction and the physiological stress response

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley G. Rehnberg ◽  
Carl B. Schreck
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Oncorhynchus Kisutch ◽  
Alarm Substance ◽  
Chemical Stimulus ◽  
Physiological Stress Response ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Physiological Reactions

Behavioral and physiological reactions were examined in juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) before and after the chemodetection of alarm substance and chemical stimuli released from predators and nonpredators. Chemical stimulus from northern squawfish (Ptychocheilus oregonensis) was avoided in a two-choice Y trough, whereas stimulus from the largescale sucker (Catostomus macrocheilus) was not. Paradoxically, both stimuli induced a stress response as indicated by elevations in plasma Cortisol and glucose. Plasma thyroxine was not a sensitive indicator of stress. Extracts from the broken skin of squawfish or suckers induced a physiological stress response, thereby raising the possibility of a nonostariophysan fish recognizing an ostariophysan alarm substance. Rinses from human skin or L-serine were behaviorally avoided, but neither stimulus induced physiological stress responses. A conclusion from these results is that behavioral and physiological reactions to chemical stimuli from predators do not necessarily co-occur. These data also suggest that fright is not necessarily a sufficient condition for inducing a stress response of the general adaptation syndrome type in fish.

Can eye surface temperature be used to indicate a stress response in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina)?

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-100
Author(s):  
AM MacRae ◽  
P McGreevy ◽  
RR Daros ◽  
D Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Previous Treatment ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Physiological Stress Response ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Routine Handling ◽  
Eye Temperature

Infra-red thermography (IRT) is increasingly being used to estimate physiological stress responses in animals via changes in eye surface temperature. The aim of this study was to determine whether eye temperature of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) changes in response to routine handling and the potentially painful procedure of flipper-tagging, and if responses to tagging can be mitigated by subcutaneous injection of lidocaine. Orphaned pups (n = 52) at a rehabilitation facility were assigned to one of four treatments: Lidocaine (handled twice, once for injection and once for tagging); Saline (also handled twice); Tag Only (handled once); Sham Tag (handled once). Eye temperature increased more when pups were first handled compared to pups that were not handled and increased further in pups that underwent a second handling. Eye temperature of pups that were tagged without any previous treatment (Tag Only) increased compared to pups that were sham-tagged. Eye temperature also tended to increase after pups were injected with lidocaine but not saline. These results suggest that: (i) handling causes a physiological stress response; (ii) increased eye temperature arising from the second handling suggests the first handling was likely aversive, resulting in sensitisation to further handling; (iii) the rise in eye temperature after tagging, but not sham-tagging, may reflect pain from tagging; and (iv) lidocaine, at the dosage tested, did not appear to reduce the physiological response to tagging. These results show promise for the use of eye temperature to monitor stress responses and for evaluating the potential aversiveness of routine procedures in seals.

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