scholarly journals Rhaponticum uniflorum and Serratula centauroides Extracts Attenuate Emotional Injury in Acute and Chronic Emotional Stress

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 1186
Author(s):  
Larisa N. Shantanova ◽  
Daniil N. Olennikov ◽  
Irinchey E. Matkhanov ◽  
Sergey M. Gulyaev ◽  
Anyuta A. Toropova ◽  
...  

In modern life, the use of plant stress-protectors has taken on particular significance due to the wide distribution of neurosis-like and neurotic diseases caused by neuroendocrine-immune system imbalance. Special attention has been paid to the plants containing ecdysteroids, i.e., hormone-like bioactive substances with high adaptogenic activity. The article deals with the study of bioactivity of two plant extracts as Rhaponticum uniflorum (L.) DC. and Serratula centauroides L. with a high content of ecdysteroids and phenolic compounds. The models of acute and chronic emotional stress in white rats were used to estimate the stress-protective activity of R. uniflorum and S. centauroides extracts. Both extracts showed the stress-protective effect via inhibiting the development of signs induced by single and long-term effects of stress factors. In acute stress, the development of Selye's triad signs was less pronounced against the background of the plant remedies introduction. In chronic stress, the extracts prevented the development of anxiety-depressive syndrome. Besides, R. uniflorum and S. centauroides extracts banned the development of stress-induced injuries in the brain cortex and had a neuroprotective effect on ischemia against chronic stress. The stress-protective effects of both plant extracts were based on a decrease of hyperactivation of the central stress-promoting systems (sympathoadrenal, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) due to their GABA-mimetic effects. Peripheral mechanisms were connected with the inhibition of free radical oxidation processes and with an increase in the endogenous antioxidant system activity. Thus, R. uniflorum and S. centauroides extracts have a high potential to increase non-specific body resistance against acute and chronic emotional stress effects.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Lautenbach

BACKGROUND Dealing with stress is of central importance. Lately, smartphone applications (apps) are deployed in stress interventions as they offer maximal flexibility for users. First results of experimental studies show that anti-stress apps effect subjective perception of stress positively (Ly et al., 2014). However, current literature lacks studies on physiological stress reactions (e.g., cortisol), although they are of special interest to health issues. OBJECTIVE Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an anti-stress app in chronic and acute stress reduction on a physiological (cortisol) and psychological level (subjective perception of stress) in comparison to a face-to-face and a control group in a pre-post design, for the first time. METHODS Sixty-two participants took part in the pretesting procedure (drop-out of 53 %). Based on age, gender, physical activity and subjectively perceived acute stress due to the Trier Social Stress Test for groups (TSST-G; von Dawans et al., 2011) as well as based on subjectively chronic stress assessed during the pretest, participants were parallelized in three groups (anti-stress-app: n = 10, face-to-face: n = 11, control group: n = 9). RESULTS After six weeks of the cognitive-based resource-oriented intervention, participants were exposed to the TSST-G for post testing. Results did not show a change of cortisol secretion or cognitive appraisal of the acute stressor. Further, no changes were detected in the chronic physiological stress reaction. CONCLUSIONS Possible causes are discussed extensively. CLINICALTRIAL no


Author(s):  
Я.Г. Разуваева ◽  
А.А. Торопова ◽  
Д.Э. Гармаев

Cimicifuga dahurica - многолетнее растение семейства Ranunculaceae. В тибетской медицине С. dahurica входит в состав сборов, применяющихся при болезнях «гза» («болезни, насылаемые духами»: при инсультах, параличах и других нарушениях функций нервной системы). В середине ХХ века настойку С. dahurica использовали для лечения гипертонической болезни. С. dahurica оказывает седативное действие, ограничивая двигательную, ориентировочно-исследовательскую активность и рефлекторную возбудимость животных, а также увеличивая продолжительность наркотического сна. Цель исследования - оценка стресс-протективного действия настойки С. dahurica при хроническом эмоциональном стрессе. Методика. Исследования проведены на крысах Wistar. Длительный эмоциональный стресс воспроизводили четырехдневной иммобилизацией животных в пластмассовых пеналах с одновременным погружением их в воду. Настойку С. dahurica вводили животным (0,5 мл/кг) в течение 7 сут до моделирования эмоционального стресса и ежедневно перед помещением их в пеналы. Определяли выраженность триады Селье, уровень адренокортикотропного гормона кортикостерона и катехоламинов в плазме крови, содержание малонового диальдегида, и активность каталазы в сыворотке крови, а также активность супероксиддусмутазы в эритроцитах. Результаты. Установлено, что настойка C. dahurica повышает устойчивость животных к длительному эмоциональному стрессу, ограничивая инволюцию иммунокомпетентных органов - тимуса и селезенки на 22% и 24%, соответственно. Выраженность гипертрофии надпочечников снижалась на 34%, уменьшалось развитие язвенных повреждений слизистой оболочки желудка, что может быть связано с торможением функции симпатоадреналовой и гипоталамо-гипофизарно-адренокортикальной систем, ингибированием свободнорадикальных процессов с одновременной активацией эндогенных антиоксидантных систем. Исследуемое фитосредство ингибировало гиперактивацию перекисного окисления липидов, снижая уровень малонового диальдегида на 24%, а также повышало активность эндогенной антиоксидантной системы, увеличивая активность каталазы и супероксиддисмутазы в 1,6 и 1,3 раза соответственно. Заключение. Настойка С. dahurica в дозе 0,5 мл/кг при длительном эмоциональном стрессе оказывает стресс-протективное действие, уменьшая выраженность стресс-индуцированных изменений, ограничивая гиперактивацию центральных стресс-реализующих систем, коррегируя эндогенную антиоксидантную систему организма. Выявленный стресс-протективный эффект исследуемого фитосредства обусловлен содержанием в его составе комплекса биологически активных веществ, таких как фенольные соединения, сапонины. Cimicifuga dahurica (Turcz.) Maxim. is a perennial plant of the Ranunculaceae family. In Tibetan medicine, C. dahurica is included into medicinal collections used for the treatment of gza diseases (diseases “inflicted by demons”), such as stroke, palsies, and other functional disorders of the nervous system. In mid-20th century, the C. dahurica tincture was used for the treatment of hypertension. The C. dahurica tincture has a sedative effect; it limits motility, exploratory activity, and reflex excitability in animals and prolongs the narcotic sleep. The aim of this study was to evaluate the stress-protective effect of C. dahurica tincture in chronic emotional stress. Methods. Experiments were performed on Wistar rats weighing 180-200 g. Chronic emotional stress was produced by four-day restraint of animals in plastic cases with simultaneous water immersion. The C. dahurica tincture was administered to animals at a dose of 0.5 ml/kg for 7 days, once a day; the last dose was administered 30 min prior to testing. The following parameters were determined: intensity of the Selye’s triad, plasma concentrations of ACTH, corticosterone, and catecholamines; serum concentration of malonic dialdehyde; serum activity of catalase; and superoxide dismutase activity in red blood cells. Results. The C. dahurica tincture increased the tolerance to chronic emotional stress and restricted involution of immune-competent organs, the thymus and spleen, by 22% and 24%, respectively (p<0.05), adrenal gland hypertrophy by 34% (p<0.05), and development of stress-induced stomach ulcers. These effects could be due to inhibition of the sympathoadrenal system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, inhibition of free-radical processes, and simultaneous activation of endogenic antioxidant systems. The C. dahurica tincture inhibited lipid peroxidation processes thus reducing the content of malonic dialdehyde by 24%. Also, the tincture potentiated the endogenous antioxidant system by increasing activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase 1.6 and 1.3 times, respectively. Conclusion. The stress-protective effect of the plant remedy is due to contained bioactive substances, such as phenolic compounds and saponins.


Author(s):  
Angela Duckworth ◽  

For more than a century, scientists have known that acute stress activates the fight-or-flight response. When your life is on the line, your body reacts instantly: your heart races, your breath quickens, and a cascade of hormones sets off physiological changes that collectively improve your odds of survival. More recently, scientists have come to understand that the fight-or-flight response takes a toll on the brain and the body—particularly when stress is chronic rather than acute. Systems designed to handle transient threats also react to stress that occurs again and again, for weeks, months, or years. It turns out that poverty, abuse, and other forms of adversity repeatedly activate the fight-or-flight response, leading to long-term effects on the immune system and brain, which in turn increase the risk for an array of illnesses, including asthma, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and cardiovascular disease. Pioneering neuroscientist Bruce McEwen called this burden of chronic stress “allostatic load.”


2018 ◽  
Vol 314 (4) ◽  
pp. G504-G516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyan Jiang ◽  
Kirsteen N. Browning ◽  
Luca Toti ◽  
R. Alberto Travagli

Chronic stress exerts vagally dependent effects to disrupt gastric motility; previous studies have shown that, among other nuclei, A2 neurons are involved in mediating these effects. Several studies have also shown robust in vitro and in vivo effects of α2-adrenoceptor agonists on vagal motoneurons. We have demonstrated previously that brainstem vagal neurocircuits undergo remodeling following acute stress; however, the effects following brief periods of chronic stress have not been investigated. Our aim, therefore, was to test the hypothesis that different types of chronic stress influence gastric tone and motility by inducing plasticity in the response of vagal neurocircuits to α2-adrenoreceptor agonists. In rats that underwent 5 days of either homotypic or heterotypic stress loading, we applied the α2-adrenoceptor agonist, UK14304, either by in vitro brainstem perfusion to examine its ability to modulate GABAergic synaptic inputs to vagal motoneurons or in vivo brainstem microinjection to observe actions to modulate antral tone and motility. In neurons from naïve rats, GABAergic currents were unresponsive to exogenous application of UK14304. In contrast, GABAergic currents were inhibited by UK14304 in all neurons from homotypic and, in a subpopulation of neurons, heterotypic stressed rats. In control rats, UK14304 microinjection inhibited gastric tone and motility via withdrawal of vagal cholinergic tone; in heterotypic stressed rats, the larger inhibition of antrum tone was due to a concomitant activation of peripheral nonadrenergic, noncholinergic pathways. These data suggest that stress induces plasticity in brainstem vagal neurocircuits, leading to an upregulation of α2-mediated responses. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Catecholaminergic neurons of the A2 area play a relevant role in stress-related dysfunction of the gastric antrum. Brief periods of chronic stress load induce plastic changes in the actions of adrenoceptors on vagal brainstem neurocircuits.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (OCE2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Fahrngruber ◽  
Kalina Duszka ◽  
Jürgen König

AbstractChronic stress is associated with impacting eating behavior, namely food choice and energy intake, with a shift towards more palatable and energy dense foods. Additionally, eating behavior is influenced by other psychological factors like mood and emotions. The categorization of people into eating types such as restrained, emotional, and external eaters has gained attraction. Reported changes in eating behavior due to psychological stress are only occasionally accompanied by measures of physiological hunger through ghrelin. The primary objective of this study was to investigate how chronic stress and acute cortisol reactivity affect active ghrelin secretion and how these outcomes account for different eating types. 16 healthy, young males (age: 23 ± 3 years, BMI: 22.5 ± 1.3kg/m2) with low (n = 8) and average-to-high (n = 8) chronic stress level were subjected to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a control version on two separate days. Active ghrelin, cortisol, glucose, and heart rate were measured throughout the test. Subjects rated their hunger by means of visual analog scale and current mood was assessed with the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). In addition, participants filled out the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) to account for their subjective eating behavior. Overall ghrelin values where higher on the test day compared to the control day. Ghrelin values were also higher during the time leading up to the stress or control test (TSST) than during the conclusion of said tests. On both days, mean values for active ghrelin where higher in individuals with low chronic stress exposure compare to those with average-to-high chronic stress exposure. While values from test to control day decreased for lower stressed participants, they slightly increased for higher stressed participants. Cortisol responders displayed higher ghrelin values on test day than cortisol non-responders, but this association inverted for the control day. Results indicate that chronic stress influences acute stress response and further alters active ghrelin production, which in turn can influence eating behavior. Replication in a greater group of participants of differing weight and sex could yield a greater understanding of stress induced eating. Factors such as relaxation techniques and coping mechanisms could further improve our knowledge and evaluate treatment possibilities.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 358-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwen Adshead ◽  
Scott Ferris

Not all traumatic events cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and people develop PTSD symptoms after events that do not seem to be overwhelmingly traumatic. In order to direct services appropriately, there is a need to distinguish time-limited post-traumatic symptoms and acute stress reactions (that may improve spontaneously without treatment or respond to discrete interventions) from PTSD, with its potentially more chronic pathway and possible long-term effects on the personality. In this article, we describe acute and chronic stress disorders and evidence about the most effective treatments.


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