Seasonal variation in cortisol biomarkers in Hispanic mothers living in an agricultural region

Smith, Maria W.; Wilder, Carly S.; Griffith, William C.; Workman, Tomomi; Thompson, Beti; Dills, Russel; Onstad, Gretchen D.; Vredevoogd, Melinda; Vigoren, Eric M.; Faustman, Elaine M.

doi:10.3109/1354750x.2015.1068863

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Study participants were recruited from the larger CHC cohort to participate in this nested study of environmental influences on urinary miRNA. The CHC cohort has been described in two recent studies, Thompson et al, 2014 and Smith et al, 2015. Briefly, in 2011, 27 women of childbearing age (18–49 years) and one child from each household were recruited from the larger CHC cohort to participate in this study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urinary microRNAs as potential biomarkers of pesticide exposure

Weldon

Shubin

Smith

et al. 2016

Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulators that silence messenger RNAs. Because miRNAs are stable at room temperature and long-lived, they have been proposed as molecular biomarkers to monitor disease and exposure status. While urinary miRNAs have been used clinically as potential diagnostic markers for kidney and bladder cancers and other diseases, their utility in non-clinical settings has yet to be fully developed. Our goal was to investigate the potential of urinary miRNAs to act as biomarkers of pesticide exposure and early biological response by identifying the miRNAs present in urine from 27 parent/child, farmworker/non-farmworker pairs (16FW/11NFW) collected during two agricultural seasons (thinning and post-harvest) and characterizing the between- and within-individual variability of these miRNA epigenetic regulators. MiRNAs were isolated from archived urine samples and identified using PCR arrays. Comparisons were made between age, households, season, and occupation. Of 384 miRNAs investigated, 297 (77%) were detectable in at least one sample. Seven miRNAs were detected in at least 50% of the samples, and one miRNA was present in 96% of the samples. Principal components and hierarchical clustering analyses indicate significant differences in miRNA profiles between farmworker and non-farmworker adults as well as between seasons. Six miRNAs were observed to be positively associated with farmworkers status during the post-harvest season. Expression of five of these miRNA trended towards a positive dose response relationship with organophosphate pesticide metabolites in farmworkers. These results suggest that miRNAs may be novel biomarkers of pesticide exposure and early biological response.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nearly all speak Spanish as a primary language. A detailed description of the nested study participants can be found in Smith et al 2015.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urinary microRNAs as potential biomarkers of pesticide exposure

Weldon

Shubin

Smith

et al. 2016

Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology

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“…In future studies, more medical/health sciences and male participants should be included. Although circadian variations in cortisol were taken into consideration, seasonal variations in cortisol were not considered as recent studies indicated that cortisol does not have seasonal differences (Smith et al, 2015).…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Academic stress-induced changes in Th1- and Th2-cytokine response

Assaf

Alabbassi

Al-Binni

2017

Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal

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Psychological stress stimulates physiological responses releasing catecholamines and corticoids, which act via corresponding receptors on immune cells, producing a shift in the cytokine balance. These responses are variable depending on the nature of stressors. The effect of the academic stress on the production of the Th1-cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-8) and Th2-cytokines (IL-1ra, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10) on 35 medical/health sciences students after completing their questionnaires was investigated. Blood samples were taken at three stages; baseline stage at the beginning, midterm and final academic examination stages. Plasma cortisol and cytokines were measured during the three stages. The last two stages were compared with the baseline non-stress period. Results of the stress induced during the final examination stage were the highest with a significant increase in cortisol release, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-1ra release with a shift in Th1:Th2 cytokines balance towards Th2. Whereby, the midterm stage did not show significant reduction in Th1-cytokines except for TNF-α, with an increase in IFN-γ level that was reduced in the third stage. Th2 cytokine, IL-1ra, had positive correlations with Th1 cytokines; IL-2 and IFN-γ in the second stage and IL-6 cytokine in the third stage. Cortisol was positively correlated with IL-8 in the last stage and heart rates had negative correlation with IL-10 in the first and last stages. Findings of this study indicate that exam stress down-regulates Th1 with a selective up-regulation of Th2-cytokines. In conclusion, Cortisol might have a role in suppressing the release of Th1- mediated cellular immune response which could increase the vulnerability among the students to infectious diseases.

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“…In the present study, we found no statistically significant differences in HCC between the spring (T1) and fall (T2) measurements. Seasonal effects and effects of duration of sample storage on measured HCC have been reported in previous research [ 61 , 62 , 63 ]. According to these studies, one would expect lower HCC for the summer season (which we measured at T2) and lower values for the samples that had been stored for longer (which concerns all samples taken at T1, because they were analysed only after T2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Contact to Nature Benefits Health: Mixed Effectiveness of Different Mechanisms

Hofmann

Young

Binz

et al. 2017

IJERPH

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How can urban nature contribute to the reduction of chronic stress? We twice measured the concentration of the “stress hormone” cortisol in the hair of 85 volunteer gardeners (six months apart), relating cortisol level change to (self-reported) characteristics of their recreational activities. Both time spent in nature and physical activity led to decreases in cortisol, while time spent being idle led to an increase. At high levels of present stressors, however, the relationship for time spent in nature and for idleness was reversed. Time spent with social interaction had no effect on cortisol levels. Our results indicate that physical activity is an effective means of mitigating the negative effects of chronic stress. The results regarding the time spent in nature and time spent being idle are less conclusive, suggesting the need for more research. We conclude that if chronic stress cannot be abolished by eradicating its sources, public health may take to measures to reduce it—providing urban nature being one effective possibility.

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Seasonal variation in cortisol biomarkers in Hispanic mothers living in an agricultural region

Cited by 9 publications

References 35 publications

Urinary microRNAs as potential biomarkers of pesticide exposure

Urinary microRNAs as potential biomarkers of pesticide exposure

Academic stress-induced changes in Th1- and Th2-cytokine response

Contact to Nature Benefits Health: Mixed Effectiveness of Different Mechanisms

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