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Biomedical subjects

R Glaser

Publications and source records attributed to R Glaser.

275 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Postmenopausal hormone replacement: effects on autonomic, neuroendocrine, and immune reactivity to brief psychological stressors.

OBJECTIVE: Postmenopausal status increases some aspects of women's physiological responses to psychological stress; however, the influences of chronic hormone replacement with estrogen and progestogen on these responses are not known. We investigated possible effects of long-term estrogen replacement therapy (ERT), both with and without progestogen, on physiological reactivity to brief laboratory stressors. METHOD: We studied three groups of postmenopausal women: 16 on estrogen alone, 14 on estrogen and progestogen, and 25 control participants receiving no replacement therapy. Cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune data were collected at baseline and after speech and math tasks. RESULTS: In all groups, the stressors reduced vagal cardiac control (indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia); increased heart rate and plasma epinephrine, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and cortisol levels; and altered T lymphocyte response (measured by mitogen-induced cell proliferation), natural killer cell lysis, and circulating leukocyte subsets. Women on either type of ERT had higher total cortisol levels (reflecting an estrogen effect on cortisol binding globulin) and greater mitogen-induced blastogenesis across measurement periods than controls. They also showed greater vagal withdrawal and less decline in mitogen-stimulated blastogenesis in response to the stressors. Combined estrogen and progestogen was associated with higher epinephrine and lower circulating total lymphocytes, T cells, and CD4+ T cells across measurement periods, and with intermediate levels of vagal withdrawal in response to the stressors. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term ERT was associated with enhanced parasympathetic responsiveness to stress, suggesting possible reduced demand for potentially detrimental sympathetic activation; and with higher overall levels and smaller stress-induced reductions of mitogen-stimulated blastogenesis, suggesting up-regulated T cell function.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cardiovascular and immune responses to acute psychological stress in young and old women: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the relationships between cardiovascular and natural killer (NK) cell number changes on acute psychological stress in women. METHOD: Data from eight different studies were analyzed. A total of 128 healthy female subjects, 85 younger (18-45 years) and 43 older (49-87 years), had been subjected to a speech stressor (N = 80) or a mental effort stressor (N = 48), mental arithmetic, or the Stroop test. Correlations between changes in NK cell numbers, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, and heart rate (HR) were computed. Meta-analysis programs were used to study correlations across studies and to examine whether correlations differed with stressors or age. RESULTS: In all studies, significant increases over baseline were observed for each variable. Across studies, the mean weighted r between changes in HR, DBP, and SBP was medium (rw = .25) to large (rw = .64). A medium to large average correlation between HR and NK changes (rw = .37) was observed, whereas average correlations of changes in NK cell numbers with blood pressure changes were small to medium (rw < or = .23). Correlations between changes in NK cell numbers and cardiovascular variables were homogeneous across studies, whereas mutual correlations between cardiovascular variables were heterogeneous. One moderator variable showed itself: correlations between HR and DBP reactions were larger in studies with older than younger subjects. CONCLUSION: NK cell changes and HR responses induced by acute stress in women are regulated, to some extent, by the same mechanisms. Neither the type of stressor nor age seem to be very important when considering correlations between NK cell and cardiovascular changes. This study integrates information about NK cell and cardiovascular responses in women that can be used as reference material in future studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in whole blood spots: a minimally invasive method for assessing an aspect of cell-mediated immunity.

OBJECTIVE: Study 1: Introduce and validate a method for measuring EBV p18-VCA antibodies in whole blood spots to provide a minimally invasive marker of cell-mediated immune function. Study 2: Apply this method to a large community-based study of psychopathology in children and adolescents. METHODS: The EBV antibody method was evaluated through analysis of precision, reliability, stability, and comparisons with plasma and indirect immunofluorescence methods. The effects of life events on p18-VCA antibody level were considered in a subsample of 9, 11, and 13 year-old children participating in the Great Smoky Mountains Study in North Carolina. The subsample was stratified by age, sex, and degree of overall life strain. RESULTS: Dried blood spots provided a convenient, sensitive, precise, and reliable method for measuring EBV p18-VCA antibody titer. Life events were positively associated with p18-VCA antibodies in girls but not in boys. CONCLUSIONS: The validity of the blood spot EBV p18-VCA antibody assay, as well as the ease of sample collection, storage, and transportation, may provide an opportunity for psychoneuroimmunology to explore a wider range of stress models in larger, community-based studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Chronic stress modulates the immune response to a pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine.

OBJECTIVE: Influenza and pneumonia account for significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in older individuals. Previous studies have shown that spousal caregivers of patients with dementia have poorer antibody and virus specific T cell responses to an influenza virus vaccine relative to noncaregiving control subjects. This study tested the hypothesis that stress can also significantly inhibit the IgG antibody response to a pneumococcal bacterial vaccine. METHOD: We measured antibody titers of current caregivers, former caregivers, and control subjects after vaccination with a pneumococcal bacterial vaccine. RESULTS: Caregivers showed deficits relative to controls and former caregivers in their antibody responses to vaccination. Although the groups did not differ before vaccination or in the rise in antibody 2 weeks or 1 month after vaccination, current caregivers had lower antibody titers 3 and 6 months after vaccination than either former caregivers or controls. CONCLUSIONS: These data, the first evidence that chronic stress can inhibit the stability of the IgG antibody response to a bacterial vaccine for pneumonia, provide additional evidence of health risks associated with dementia caregiving.

Alzheimer Disease↗