Hair cortisol reduction and social integration enhancement after a mindfulness-based intervention in children.

BACKGROUND: Over recent decades, chronic stress at an early age has become a worrying health problem in children. We seek to evaluate an intervention involving mindfulness-based practices and prosocial activities in 7- to 8-year-old children. METHODS: Stress levels were determined using hair cortisol concentration (HCC), and social integration was measured by means of a sociogram. The program had previously proven to be effective in decreasing salivary cortisol levels and in favouring social integration in children. A total of 35 children participated in the study: 18 constituted the intervention group and 17 the wait-list group. In both groups, HCC and social integration were evaluated before and after the intervention conducted throughout an entire school year. RESULTS: The experimental group showed a significant reduction in HCC, as well as significant enhancement of social integration levels, whereas no changes were observed in the wait-list group. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first research to show that HCC, a reliable neuroendocrine indicator, decreased as a result of a mindfulness-based program. This successful outcome adds new evidence to previous findings regarding the reduction of chronic stress in children following participation in this program.

Effects of Occupational Therapy Program Based on Active Meditation on Hair Cortisol Levels in Undergraduate Healthcare Students.

Methods: Undergraduate students from the University of Chile's health careers were divided at random into control (n = 7) and treated groups (n = 15). The treated group participated in an active meditation program once a week for three months. This treatment included different techniques such as Chakra Sounds, Nataraj, Mandala, Kundalini, Devavani, Gourishankar, and Nadabrahma. Hair samples were taken before and after the treatment period to measure cortisol. Results: The control group increased cortisol level 168.9 ± 76.8 pg/mg compared with initial levels. The treated group shows a decrease of initial cortisol values in 28.5 ± 12.8 pg/mg after meditation protocol application. Conclusions: Blending active meditation in students' daily routine through occupational therapy intervention might prevent undergraduate students' stress in healthcare careers.

Prenatal stress perturbs fetal iron homeostasis in a sex specific manner.

The adverse effects of maternal prenatal stress (PS) on child's neurodevelopment warrant the establishment of biomarkers that enable early interventional therapeutic strategies. We performed a prospective matched double cohort study screening 2000 pregnant women in third trimester with Cohen Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) questionnaire; 164 participants were recruited and classified as stressed and control group (SG, CG). Fetal cord blood iron parameters of 107 patients were measured at birth. Transabdominal electrocardiograms-based Fetal Stress Index (FSI) was derived. We investigated sex contribution to group differences and conducted causal inference analyses to assess the total effect of PS exposure on iron homeostasis using a directed acyclic graph (DAG) approach. Differences are reported for p < 0.05 unless noted otherwise. Transferrin saturation was lower in male stressed neonates. The minimum adjustment set of the DAG to estimate the total effect of PS exposure on fetal ferritin iron biomarkers consisted of maternal age and socioeconomic status: SG revealed a 15% decrease in fetal ferritin compared with CG. Mean FSI was higher among SG than among CG. FSI-based timely detection of fetuses affected by PS can support early individualized iron supplementation and neurodevelopmental follow-up to prevent long-term sequelae due to PS-exacerbated impairment of the iron homeostasis.

Immune variations throughout the course of tuberculosis treatment and its relationship with adrenal hormone changes in HIV-1 patients co-infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

HIV infection is a major risk factor predisposing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and progression to active tuberculosis (TB). As host immune response defines the course of infection, we aimed to identify immuno-endocrine changes over six-months of anti-TB chemotherapy in HIV+ people. Plasma levels of cortisol, DHEA and DHEA-S, percentages of CD4+ regulatory T cell subsets and number of IFN-γ-secreting cells were determined. Several cytokines, chemokines and C-reactive protein levels were measured. Results were correlated with clinical parameters as predictors of infection resolution and compared to similar data from HIV+ individuals, HIV-infected persons with latent TB infection and healthy donors. Throughout the course of anti-TB/HIV treatment, DHEA and DHEA-S plasma levels raised while cortisol diminished, which correlated to predictive factors of infection resolution. Furthermore, the balance between cortisol and DHEA, together with clinical assessment, may be considered as an indicator of clinical outcome after anti-TB treatment in HIV+ individuals. Clinical improvement was associated with reduced frequency of unconventional Tregs, increment in IFN-γ-secreting cells, diminution of systemic inflammation and changes of circulating cytokines and chemokines. This study suggests that the combined anti-HIV/TB therapies result in partial restoration of both, immune function and adrenal hormone plasma levels.

Evaluación de la funcionalidad del eje hipotálamo-hipófiso-adrenal a través del test de respuesta del cortisol al despertar en pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 1 con y sin depresión: Estudio Multicéntrico Argentino (EMA-1) / Evaluation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis using the cortisol awakening response test in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus with and without depression: Multicenter Argentine Study (EMA-1)

Introducción: la depresión (DP) tiene una alta prevalencia en pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 1 (DM1) y se asocia a repercusiones clínicas negativas como mayor morbimortalidad cardiovascular y complicaciones crónicas. Existen pocos estudios publicados sobre la funcionalidad del eje hipotálamo-hipófiso-adrenal (H-H-A) en DM1 con DP, y la relación entre la DP y el test de respuesta del cortisol al despertar (RCD) con el control glucémico (CG). Objetivos: analizar la funcionalidad del eje H-H-A a través de la evaluación del RCD en pacientes con DM1 (PD1) con y sin DP. Como objetivos secundarios, conocer la prevalencia de DP en PD1 y ver si existe relación entre el RCD y CG, y entre DP y CG. Materiales y métodos: estudio observacional, prospectivo, de corte transversal, multicéntrico, nacional. Se incluyeron PD1 mayores de 18 años; se utilizó cuestionario Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) para diagnóstico de DP. Se tomaron muestras de cortisol salival al despertar y a los 30 minutos (RCD), y se consideró RCD bloqueado si el valor de cortisol de los 30 minutos no aumentaba más del 50% del basal. Además se tomaron muestras de sangre en ayunas para medir glucemia, fructosamina y HbA1c. Resultados: se incluyeron 79 pacientes, 39% hombres, edad promedio 38±15 años, duración de la diabetes de 16±13 años; 53% casados/en pareja y 87% con ingresos económicos estables. El 68% de los PD1 presentó el RCD bloqueado. En PD1 con DP el 85% presentó el RCD bloqueado vs el 60% en los no deprimidos y dicha diferencia fue marginalmente significativa (p=0,05). La prevalencia de DP fue de 39%. No se encontró ninguna relación significativa entre RCD bloqueado y control glucémico (p>0,05). Los PD1 con DP moderada-severa presentaron un peor control glucémico en relación a los PD1 sin depresión (evaluado por glucemia mayor de 120 mg/dl, fructosamina mayor de 285 umol/l; p<0,05) y la relación no fue significativa para HbA1c aunque mostró una tendencia. Conclusiones: en pacientes con DM1 y DP se halló el RCD bloqueado en un alto porcentaje. Dado que la DP se asocia a mayor morbimortalidad cardiovascular, podría utilizarse el test de RCD como biomarcador de DP, y podría servir para estratificar esta sub-población de alto de riesgo. La depresión moderada-severa se asoció a peor control glucémico, por lo tanto, diagnosticar y tratar adecuadamente la DP en PD1 podría contribuir a prevenir la aparición o progresión de complicaciones crónicas.

Introduction: depression (DP) has a high prevalence in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) and is associated with negative clinicals consequences like more cardiovascular morbimortality and chronic complications. There are few studies published about the dysregulation of hypothalamopituitary-adrenal axis (H-P-A) in DM1 with DP and the relation between DP and the Cortisol Awakening Response Test (CAR) with the glycemic control (GC). Objectives: examine the functionality of the H-P-A axis using the Cortisol Awakening Response Test (CAR), in patients with DM1 (PD1) with and without DP. Determine the prevalence of DP in PD1 and examine if there is any relation between CAR and GC and DP and poorer GC. Materials and methods: observational, prospective, national, multicenter study. Patients with DM1, older than 18 years old; Patient Health-9 questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to diagnose DP and 2 samples of salivary cortisol, and blood samples for glycemia, glycated albumin and Hba1c. Results: 79 patients with DM1 (PD1) were included, 39% male, mean age 38± 15 years old, an average of 16±13 years evolution of diabetes; 53 % married/couple and 87 % have a regular incomes. 68% of PD1 presented CAR blunted. In PD1 with DP 85% has CAR blunted versus 60% in those without DP, and this difference was marginally significant (p=0.05). The prevalence of DP was 39%. No significant relation was found between CAR blunted and glycemic control (p>0.05).PD1 with Moderate-severe DP showed worse metabolic control than the PD1 without DP (evaluated by glycemia higher than 120 mg/dl, glycated albumin higher than 285 umol/l); p<0.05) and the relation was not significant with HbA1c but it showed a trend. Conclusions: patients with DM1 and DP presented a high prevalence of CAR blunted. DP is related with higher cardiovascular morbi-mortality, thus CAR would be useful as a biomarker of DP and would be used to stratify this population of high risk. DP moderate-severe was related to worse glycemic control, hence diagnose and treat correctly DP in PD1 would contribute to prevent the onset or the evolution of chronic complications.