Ulrike Kuebler1, Manuel Trachsel2, Roland von Känel3, Elvira Abbruzzese1, Ulrike Ehlert1, Petra H Wirtz4. 1. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. 2. Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. 3. Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Department of General Internal Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. 4. Biological and Health Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: petra.wirtz@psy.unibe.ch.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Hypertension and an atherogenic lipid profile are known risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). Hypertensives show greater changes in atherogenic plasma lipids to acute stress than normotensives. In this study, we investigated whether attribution of failure is associated with lipid stress reactivity in hypertensive compared with normotensive men. METHODS: 18 normotensive and 17 hypertensive men (mean±SEM; 45±2.2 years) underwent an acute standardized psychosocial stress task that can be viewed as a situation of experimentally induced failure. We assessed external-stable (ES), external-variable (EV), internal-stable (IS), and internal-variable (IV) attribution of failure and psychological control variables (i.e. extent of depression and neuroticism). Moreover, total cholesterol (TC), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and norepinephrine were measured immediately before and several times after stress. RESULTS: ES moderated TC- and LDL-C-stress reactivity in hypertensives as compared to normotensives (interaction mean arterial pressure [MAP]-by-ES for TC: F=3.71, p=.015; for LDL-C: F=3.61, p=.016). TC and LDL-C levels were highest in hypertensives with low ES immediately after stress (p≤.039). In contrast, hypertensives with high ES did not differ from normotensives in TC and LDL-C immediately after stress (p's>.28). Controlling for norepinephrine, depression, and neuroticism in addition to age and BMI did not significantly change results. There were no significant associations between lipid baseline levels or aggregated lipid secretion and IS, IV, or EV (p's>.23). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that ES may independently protect from elevated lipid stress reactivity in hypertensive individuals. ES thus might be a protective factor against CHD in hypertension.
OBJECTIVE:Hypertension and an atherogenic lipid profile are known risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). Hypertensives show greater changes in atherogenic plasma lipids to acute stress than normotensives. In this study, we investigated whether attribution of failure is associated with lipid stress reactivity in hypertensive compared with normotensive men. METHODS: 18 normotensive and 17 hypertensivemen (mean±SEM; 45±2.2 years) underwent an acute standardized psychosocial stress task that can be viewed as a situation of experimentally induced failure. We assessed external-stable (ES), external-variable (EV), internal-stable (IS), and internal-variable (IV) attribution of failure and psychological control variables (i.e. extent of depression and neuroticism). Moreover, total cholesterol (TC), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and norepinephrine were measured immediately before and several times after stress. RESULTS:ES moderated TC- and LDL-C-stress reactivity in hypertensives as compared to normotensives (interaction mean arterial pressure [MAP]-by-ES for TC: F=3.71, p=.015; for LDL-C: F=3.61, p=.016). TC and LDL-C levels were highest in hypertensives with low ES immediately after stress (p≤.039). In contrast, hypertensives with high ES did not differ from normotensives in TC and LDL-C immediately after stress (p's>.28). Controlling for norepinephrine, depression, and neuroticism in addition to age and BMI did not significantly change results. There were no significant associations between lipid baseline levels or aggregated lipid secretion and IS, IV, or EV (p's>.23). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that ES may independently protect from elevated lipid stress reactivity in hypertensive individuals. ES thus might be a protective factor against CHD in hypertension.
Authors: Lisa-Marie Walther; Roland von Känel; Nadja Heimgartner; Claudia Zuccarella-Hackl; Guido Stirnimann; Petra H Wirtz Journal: Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) Date: 2022-07-22 Impact factor: 6.055