Modulating inflammation by stress and psychosocial factors

描述（改编自研究者的摘要）：压力可以通过释放抑制免疫功能的激素来抑制炎症反应，这对早期伤口愈合至关重要。因此，阿尔茨海默氏症护理人员和参加考试的学生所遇到的压力可以作为伤口愈合率个体差异的重要决定因素。初步研究表明，长期承受压力的老年人在照顾阿尔茨海默病患者时，实验性皮肤伤口的愈合速度要慢25%。与没有压力的情况相比，接受检查的压力使口腔伤口的愈合延迟了40%。在这两项研究中，应激组个体的白细胞中促炎细胞因子白细胞介素-1 β显著降低。个体的信仰、态度和价值观会改变他们对压力源的反应，因此孤独个体的IL-1反应较低，伤口愈合的时间较长，而社会嵌入个体的压力水平较低。因此，分析应激源以及影响应激源事件评价的人格属性对于理解伤口愈合模式至关重要。拟议的研究将探讨社会心理因素对神经内分泌通路的失调及其对快速愈合的非瘢痕标准化口腔伤口早期炎症过程中基因表达的影响。

DESCRIPTION (adapted from investigator's abstract): Stress can inhibit the inflammatory responses that are critical to early wound healing through the release of hormones which suppress immune function. Thus, stress as encountered by Alzheimer's caregivers and students taking examinations can serve as an important determinant in individual variance in wound healing rates. Preliminary suggest that experimental skin wounds heal 25 percent slower in chronically stressed, older adults caring for Alzheimer's disease patients. The stress of taking examinations delayed healing of oral wounds 40 percent as compared to non-stress conditions. In both of these studies, the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta was significantly reduced in leukocytes from individuals in the stressed groups. An individual's beliefs, attitudes and values will alter their response to a stressor such that lonely individuals will have lower IL-1 responses and a greater delay in wound healing than socially embedded individuals who have lower levels of stress. Thus, analyses of the stressors as well a s personality attributes that affect the appraisal of events as stressors is essential to understanding patterns in wound healing. The proposed studies will investigate the dysregulation of neuroendocrine pathways by psychosocial factors and the impact this has on gene expression during the early inflammatory process in a rapidly healing non-scarring standardized oral wound.