Differential Health Effects on Inflammatory, Immunological and Stress Parameters in Professional Soccer Players and Sedentary Individuals after Consuming a Synbiotic. A Triple-Blinded, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study.

The main objective of this research was to carry out an experimental study, triple-blind, on the possible immunophysiological effects of a nutritional supplement (synbiotic, Gasteel Plus®, Heel España S.A.U.), containing a mixture of probiotic strains, such as Bifidobacterium lactis CBP-001010, Lactobacillus rhamnosus CNCM I-4036, and Bifidobacterium longum ES1, as well as the prebiotic fructooligosaccharides, on both professional athletes and sedentary people. The effects on some inflammatory/immune (IL-1ß, IL-10, and immunoglobulin A) and stress (epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol) biomarkers were evaluated, determined by flow cytometer and ELISA. The effects on metabolic profile and physical activity, as well as on various parameters that could affect physical and mental health, were also evaluated via the use of accelerometry and validated questionnaires. The participants were professional soccer players in the Second Division B of the Spanish League and sedentary students of the same sex and age range. Both study groups were randomly divided into two groups: a control group-administered with placebo, and an experimental group-administered with the synbiotic. Each participant was evaluated at baseline, as well as after the intervention, which lasted one month. Only in the athlete group did the synbiotic intervention clearly improve objective physical activity and sleep quality, as well as perceived general health, stress, and anxiety levels. Furthermore, the synbiotic induced an immunophysiological bioregulatory effect, depending on the basal situation of each experimental group, particularly in the systemic levels of IL-1ß (increased significantly only in the sedentary group), CRH (decreased significantly only in the sedentary group), and dopamine (increased significantly only in the athlete group). There were no significant differences between groups in the levels of immunoglobulin A or in the metabolic profile as a result of the intervention. It is concluded that synbiotic nutritional supplements can improve anxiety, stress, and sleep quality, particularly in sportspeople, which appears to be linked to an improved immuno-neuroendocrine response in which IL-1ß, CRH, and dopamine are clearly involved.

Effect of Flavobacterium psychrophilum on the neuroendocrine response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a time course experiment.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Flavobacterium psychrophilum, a pathogen that is economically important in the aquaculture sector, on the neuroendocrine response of Oncorhynchus mykiss during a time course experiment with sampling at 0.5, 1, 2, 6, 10, and 30 days post injection (dpi). In the brain, serotonin (5HT) content increased in the infected group at all the measured time points, a similar pattern was observed for 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5HIAA). Infected fish presented an increase in brain dopamine levels on day 0.5 and 1 dpi. A non-significant variation in noradrenaline levels was observed on all treatment days. Foregut 5-HT and 5-HIAA content in the infected group presented the highest 5-HT concentrations with 248.6 and 983.5 ng/g tissue at 0.5 dpi respectively. Midgut 5-HT and 5-HIAA levels presented the highest 5-HT concentrations, 486.9 ng/g tissue and 1006.4 ng/g tissue respectively, at the beginning of the experiment (0.5 dpi). 5-HT levels in the hindgut presented the highest concentrations with 233.9 ng/g tissue at 0.5 dpi, while 5-HIAA presented the highest concentrations, 690.5 ng/g tissue, at the same time point. After injection with F. psychrophilum the neuroendocrine response in rainbow trout was tissue dependent. Brain levels of 5HT and 5HIIA indicate that the neuroendocrine response increased together with dopamine following intramuscular infection. These increases are in line with reports from other authors, indicating an early response of catecholamines as neurotransmitters to stressful stimulus. In addition the intestinal response was also increased, implying that there could be a possible relationship between the serotonergic system at the intestinal level and the immune system.

Microbial Colonization Activates an Immune Fight-and-Flight Response via Neuroendocrine Signaling.

The ability to distinguish harmful and beneficial microbes is critical for the survival of an organism. Here, we show that bloating of the intestinal lumen of Caenorhabditis elegans caused by microbial colonization elicits a microbial aversion behavior. Bloating of the intestinal lumen also activates a broad innate immune response, even in the absence of bacterial pathogens or live bacteria. Neuroendocrine pathway genes are upregulated by intestinal bloating and are required for microbial aversion behavior. We propose that microbial colonization and bloating of the intestine may be perceived as a danger signal that activates an immune fight-and-flight response. These results reveal how inputs from the intestine can aid in the recognition of a broad range of microbes and modulate host behavior via neuroendocrine signaling.

Pathophysiological aspects of sepsis: an overview.

Sepsis is defined as severe systemic inflammation in response to invading pathogens, or an uncontrolled hyperinflammatory response, as mediated by the release of various proinflammatory mediators. Although some patients may die rapidly from septic shock accompanied by an overwhelming systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) triggered by a highly virulent pathogen, most patients survive the initial phase of sepsis, showing multiple organ damage days or weeks later. These patients often demonstrate signs of immune suppression accompanied by enhanced inflammation. Sepsis is a result of a complex process; there is interaction of various pathways, such as inflammation, immunity, coagulation, as well as the neuroendocrine system. This treatise is an attempt to provide a summary of several key regulatory mechanisms and to present the currently recognized molecular pathways that are involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis.

[Morpho-functional characteristics of conducting airways and the respiratory portion of rat lung under the conditions of intratracheal infection from the positions of the neuroendocrine regulation of reparative histogeneses].

With the use of light and electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry, the morpho-functional changes in the lungs, the hypothalamus and the neurohypophysis were studied in 45 outbred albino male rats 1, 3, 7 and 14 days after the intratracheal infusion of Staphylococcus aureus strains either possessing anti-lactoferrin activity (ALfA(+)) or lacking it (ALfA(-)). After the infusion of ALfA(+) bacteria, the bronchial wall and the respiratory portion of the lungs demonstrated the destructive changes of tissues, sclerosis phenomena, disturbances of regeneration processes (polypoid outgrowth, metaplasia), while in the neurohypophysis a delay in the release of neurosecretion into the blood from the terminals of nonapeptidergic neurosecretory cells took place. These phenomena were not observed after the infection with ALfA(-)bacteria. The results obtained indicate the disturbances of the structural-functional homeostasis of pulmonary tissues associated with bacterial ALfa, taking place together with the limitations of the hypothalamic neurosecretion.