Modulating inflammation by stress and psychosocial factors

描述（改编自研究者摘要）：压力可以通过释放抑制免疫功能的激素来抑制对早期伤口愈合至关重要的炎症反应。因此，压力所遇到的阿尔茨海默氏症的照顾者和学生参加考试，可以作为一个重要的决定因素，在伤口愈合率的个体差异。初步研究表明，在慢性压力下，老年人照顾阿尔茨海默病患者的实验性皮肤伤口愈合速度慢25%。与无压力的情况相比，考试的压力使口腔伤口的愈合延迟了40%。在这两项研究中，促炎细胞因子白细胞介素-1 β在应激组个体的白细胞中显著减少。个体的信念、态度和价值观将改变他们对压力源的反应，使得孤独的个体将比具有较低水平压力的社会嵌入个体具有较低的IL-1反应和更大的伤口愈合延迟。因此，分析的压力以及一个人的个性属性，影响评估的事件作为压力是必不可少的理解模式，在伤口愈合。拟议的研究将调查心理社会因素对神经内分泌通路的失调，以及这对快速愈合的无瘢痕标准化口腔伤口中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.