Kinetics of Plasma Cell-Free DNA under a Highly Standardized and Controlled Stress Induction

Abstract

Psychological stress affects the immune system and activates peripheral inflammatory pathways. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is associated with systemic inflammation, and recent research indicates that cfDNA is an inflammatory marker that is sensitive to psychological stress in humans. The present study investigated the effects of acute stress on the kinetics of cfDNA in a within-subjects design. Twenty-nine males (mean age: 24.34 ± 4.08 years) underwent both the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a resting condition. Blood samples were collected at two time points before and at 9 time points up to 105 min after both conditions. The cfDNA immediately increased 2-fold after the TSST and returned to baseline levels after 30 min after the test, showing that a brief psychological stressor was sufficient to evoke a robust and rapid increase in cfDNA levels. No associations were detected between perceived stress, whereas subjects with higher basal cfDNA levels showed higher increases. The rapid cfDNA regulation might be attributed to the transient activation of immune cells caused by neuroendocrine-immune activation. Further research is required to evaluate the reliability of cfDNA as a marker of neuroendocrine-immune activation, which could be used for diagnostics purposes or monitoring of treatment progression.

Autoren

Benedict Herhaus
Elmo Neuberger
Ema Juškevičiūtė
Perikles Simon
Katja Petrowski

DOI

10.3390/cells12040564

eISSN

2073-4409

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

4

Zeitschrift

Cells

Sprache

en

Online publication date

2023

Paginierung

564 - 564

Status

Published online

Herausgeber

MDPI AG

Herausgeber URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells12040564

Datum der Datenerfassung

2023

Titel

Kinetics of Plasma Cell-Free DNA under a Highly Standardized and Controlled Stress Induction

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

12

Datenquelle: Crossref

Abstract

Psychological stress affects the immune system and activates peripheral inflammatory pathways. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is associated with systemic inflammation, and recent research indicates that cfDNA is an inflammatory marker that is sensitive to psychological stress in humans. The present study investigated the effects of acute stress on the kinetics of cfDNA in a within-subjects design. Twenty-nine males (mean age: 24.34 ± 4.08 years) underwent both the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a resting condition. Blood samples were collected at two time points before and at 9 time points up to 105 min after both conditions. The cfDNA immediately increased 2-fold after the TSST and returned to baseline levels after 30 min after the test, showing that a brief psychological stressor was sufficient to evoke a robust and rapid increase in cfDNA levels. No associations were detected between perceived stress, whereas subjects with higher basal cfDNA levels showed higher increases. The rapid cfDNA regulation might be attributed to the transient activation of immune cells caused by neuroendocrine-immune activation. Further research is required to evaluate the reliability of cfDNA as a marker of neuroendocrine-immune activation, which could be used for diagnostics purposes or monitoring of treatment progression.

Addresses

Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany.

Autoren

Benedict Herhaus
Elmo Neuberger
Ema Juškevičiūtė
Perikles Simon
Katja Petrowski

DOI

10.3390/cells12040564

eISSN

2073-4409

Externe Identifier

PubMed Identifier: 36831231
PubMed Central ID: PMC9954572

Open access

true

ISSN

2073-4409

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

4

Zeitschrift

Cells

Schlüsselwörter

Neurosecretory Systems
Humans
Reproducibility of Results
Adult
Male
Young Adult
Cell-Free Nucleic Acids

Sprache

eng

Medium

Electronic

Online publication date

2023

Open access status

Open Access

Paginierung

564

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2023

Status

Published

Publisher licence

CC BY

Datum der Datenerfassung

2023

Titel

Kinetics of Plasma Cell-Free DNA under a Highly Standardized and Controlled Stress Induction.

Sub types

research-article
Journal Article

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

12

Files

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/12/4/564/pdf?version=1676381453 https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC9954572?pdf=render

Datenquelle: Europe PubMed Central

Abstract

Psychological stress affects the immune system and activates peripheral inflammatory pathways. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is associated with systemic inflammation, and recent research indicates that cfDNA is an inflammatory marker that is sensitive to psychological stress in humans. The present study investigated the effects of acute stress on the kinetics of cfDNA in a within-subjects design. Twenty-nine males (mean age: 24.34 ± 4.08 years) underwent both the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a resting condition. Blood samples were collected at two time points before and at 9 time points up to 105 min after both conditions. The cfDNA immediately increased 2-fold after the TSST and returned to baseline levels after 30 min after the test, showing that a brief psychological stressor was sufficient to evoke a robust and rapid increase in cfDNA levels. No associations were detected between perceived stress, whereas subjects with higher basal cfDNA levels showed higher increases. The rapid cfDNA regulation might be attributed to the transient activation of immune cells caused by neuroendocrine-immune activation. Further research is required to evaluate the reliability of cfDNA as a marker of neuroendocrine-immune activation, which could be used for diagnostics purposes or monitoring of treatment progression.

Date of acceptance

2023

Autoren

Benedict Herhaus
Elmo Neuberger
Ema Juškevičiūtė
Perikles Simon
Katja Petrowski

Autoren-URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36831231

DOI

10.3390/cells12040564

eISSN

2073-4409

Externe Identifier

PubMed Central ID: PMC9954572

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

4

Zeitschrift

Cells

Schlüsselwörter

Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)
circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA)
psychological stress
Male
Humans
Young Adult
Adult
Reproducibility of Results
Neurosecretory Systems
Cell-Free Nucleic Acids

Sprache

eng

Country

Switzerland

PII

cells12040564

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2023

Status

Published online

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2023

Titel

Kinetics of Plasma Cell-Free DNA under a Highly Standardized and Controlled Stress Induction.

Sub types

Journal Article

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

12

Datenquelle: PubMed

Author's licence

CC-BY

Autoren

Benedict Herhaus
Elmo Neuberger
Ema Juškevičiūtė
Perikles Simon
Katja Petrowski

Hosting institution

Universitätsbibliothek Mainz

Sammlungen

DFG-491381577-G

Resource version

Published version

DOI

10.3390/cells12040564

Funding acknowledgements

Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 491381577

File(s) embargoed

false

Open access

true

ISSN

2073-4409

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

4

Zeitschrift

Cells

Schlüsselwörter

610 Medizin
610 Medical sciences

Sprache

eng

Open access status

Open Access

Paginierung

564

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2023

Public URL

https://openscience.ub.uni-mainz.de/handle/20.500.12030/9146

Herausgeber

MDPI

Herausgeber URL

https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12040564

Datum der Datenerfassung

2023

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2023

Zugang

Public

Titel

Kinetics of plasma cell-free DNA under a highly standardized and controlled stress induction

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

12

Files

kinetics_of_plasma_cellfree_d-20230525145122622.pdf

Datenquelle: OPENSCIENCE.UB

Kinetics of Plasma Cell-Free DNA under a Highly Standardized and Controlled Stress Induction

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