title: High-throughput screening of brief naturalistic stress-responsive cytokines in university students taking examinations.
abstract: This study was designed to prospectively examine the impact of a brief naturalistic stressor (academic examination) on salivary/serum cortisol, measures of anxiety and depressive mood, and 50 circulating immune mediators assessed 7 days before, the first day of, and 2 days after the first term examination period (5 days) among 20 male and 6 female medical students (19.7+/-3.1 years, mean+/-SD). Of 42 serum factors detected, repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc testing indicated that concentrations of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-3, and beta-nerve growth factor (beta-NGF) were significantly decreased 2 days after finishing examinations, compared with the levels on the first day of examinations (p<0.05) in association with a concomitant post-examination decreases (p<0.05) in anxiety and salivary cortisol levels. In contrast, interleukin (IL)-16 was reciprocally increased between the two time points (p<0.05). However, after correction for multiple comparisons, only changes in MIF were significant (p<0.05/42=0.00119), and MIF levels peaked on the first day of examinations was significantly higher than those measured both 7 days before and 2 days after the examination. The present high-throughput analysis with multiplex cytokine panels reconfirms the impact of brief naturalistic stressors on immune outcomes, and suggests a potential role of MIF in the acute stress response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Stress Science, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Sakurako
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katsuura
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamezaki
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Kensei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeo
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
authors.forename: Toshihito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanahashi
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Kazuhito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rokutan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D006854:Hydrocortisone