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Biomedical subjects

C L Coe

Publications and source records attributed to C L Coe.

77 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Immune responses to final exams in healthy and asthmatic adolescents.

Immune responses to an academic stressor were examined in healthy and asthmatic adolescents with regard to their illness symptom reports. Eighty-seven high school students completed a health diary for 2 weeks and provided three blood samples during midsemester, final-exam, and postexam periods. During exam week, all students showed significant immunological alterations from baseline. Natural killer cell activity was significantly lower, whereas lymphocyte proliferation and neutrophil superoxide release were significantly higher. These immune changes tended to return toward baseline during the postexam period, but the enhanced neutrophil reactivity continued to rise. Overall, immunological responses were similar between asthmatic subjects and controls. Appropriate medical management may have accounted for this similarity. However, subtle group differences in the postexam recovery pattern and a continuous activation of inflammatory cell function following a stressor may warrant further investigation.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychosocial factors and immunity in nonhuman primates: a review.

This review summarizes research from several laboratories that has assessed the influence of psychosocial factors on immune responses in nonhuman primates. These studies have demonstrated that the formation and disruption of social relationships should be viewed as significant psychobiological events with many immunologic sequelae, especially for the young monkey. Prolonged changes in leukocyte numbers, in vitro measures of lymphocyte function, and antibody responses to antigenic challenge have been reliably observed. There is also evidence in infant monkeys suggesting that normal maternal care may be important for the development and maintenance of the physiological set points for certain immune responses. Similarly, immune responses in adult monkeys can be affected by the level of aggression occurring within the group. Collectively, this research reiterates the important influence that psychosocial variables can have on basic physiological responses, particularly when social relationships are in the process of change.

Adrenal Cortex↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder: evidence for chronic neuroendocrine activation in women.

The following study tested the hypothesis that women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood sexual abuse would display elevated norepinephrine-to-cortisol ratios similar to that found in male combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD. Twenty-four-hour urine samples were collected from 28 women: 11 women with PTSD who experienced childhood sexual abuse (PTSD+), 8 women who experienced childhood sexual abuse without PTSD (PTSD-), and 9 nonabused controls. All urine samples were tested for creatinine, total catecholamines, free-cortisol, and 17-ketosteroid levels. Psychological testing validated that the PTSD+ group was significantly elevated on all three subscales of the Impact of Events Scale. Both abused groups (PTSD+ and PTSD-) showed a tendency for polyuria, and the PTSD+ group showed a tendency towards obesity. Thus, neuroendocrine values (micrograms/day) were adjusted by creatinine clearance rates (creatinine mg/day/kg body weight). The corrected values indicated that the PTSD+ group had significantly elevated daily levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and cortisol. However, because of the parallel elevation in cortisol, the norepinephrine-to-cortisol ratio was not significantly elevated in the PTSD+ diagnosed women in contrast to the findings reported for male PTSD patients. This discrepancy may reflect an important gender difference, an interaction between gender and age at onset of the traumatic experience (childhood abuse in females vs. combat experience in young adult males), or physiological variation related to phase of the disorder.

17-Ketosteroids↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antenatal steroid treatment and adverse fetal effects: what is the evidence?

This article reviews current animal and human data regarding possible adverse fetal effects from antenatal steroid treatment. Although it is now well accepted that such treatment is of benefit to fetal lung development, the potential for adverse fetal outcomes as a result of single or multiple glucocorticoid dosing has not been widely recognized. There are now growing concerns, based on animal and some human data, that repeated antenatal doses could lead to a decrease in birth weight, a decrease in fetal brain and other organ size, and abnormal neuronal development. Previous investigations have been hampered by nonstandardization in the type of glucocorticoid, route of delivery, timing of administration, and number of treatment courses. It is recommended that these concerns be addressed through large randomized, controlled clinical trials. In the meantime, it would be prudent to minimize antenatal steroid treatments to a single course with repeated dosing only if there is a persistent threat of preterm delivery. The practice of giving weekly injections of steroids starting at fetal viability and continuing into the third trimester is not supported.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗