Kirstin Aschbacher1, Jeffrey M Milush2, Amanda Gilbert3, Carlos Almeida3, Elizabeth Sinclair2, Lorrie Epling2, S Marlene Grenon4, Elysa J Marco5, Eli Puterman6, Elissa Epel3. 1. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; The Institute for Integrative Health, Baltimore, MD, United States. Electronic address: kirstin.aschbacher@ucsf.edu. 2. Core Immunology Laboratory, Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States. 3. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States. 4. Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; Department of Surgery, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, United States; Viperx Lab, San Francisco, United States. 5. Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States. 6. School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic psychological stress is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. Circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells (CPCs) maintain vascular homeostasis, correlate with preclinical atherosclerosis, and prospectively predict cardiovascular events. We hypothesize that (1) chronic caregiving stress is related to reduced CPC number, and (2) this may be explained in part by negative interactions within the family. METHODS: We investigated levels of stress and CPCs in 68 healthy mothers - 31 of these had children with an autism spectrum disorder (M-ASD) and 37 had neurotypical children (M-NT). Participants provided fasting blood samples, and CD45+CD34+KDR+ and CD45+CD133+KDR+ CPCs were assayed by flow cytometry. We averaged the blom-transformed scores of both CPCs to create one index. Participants completed the perceived stress scale (PSS), the inventory for depressive symptoms (IDS), and reported on daily interactions with their children and partners, averaged over 7 nights. RESULTS: M-ASD exhibited lower CPCs than M-NT (Cohen's d=0.83; p⩽0.01), controlling for age, BMI, and physical activity. Across the whole sample, positive interactions were related to higher CPCs, and negative interactions to lower CPCs (allp's<0.05). The adverse effects of group on CPCs were significantly mediated through negative interactions with the child (indirect β=-0.24, p⩽0.01). In the full model, greater age (β=-0.19, p=0.04), BMI (β=-0.18, p=0.04), and negative interactions with the child (β=-0.33, p<0.01) were independently associated with lower CPCs. M-ASD had a less healthy lipid profile (total cholesterol/HDL), which in turn, was associated with lower CPCs. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic stress adversely impacts CPC number, an early-stage biomarker that predicts subclinical atherosclerosis and future CVD events, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and inflammatory factors. Among maternal caregivers, child-related interpersonal stress appears to be a key psychological predictor of stress-related CVD risk.
BACKGROUND:Chronic psychological stress is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. Circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells (CPCs) maintain vascular homeostasis, correlate with preclinical atherosclerosis, and prospectively predict cardiovascular events. We hypothesize that (1) chronic caregiving stress is related to reduced CPC number, and (2) this may be explained in part by negative interactions within the family. METHODS: We investigated levels of stress and CPCs in 68 healthy mothers - 31 of these had children with an autism spectrum disorder (M-ASD) and 37 had neurotypical children (M-NT). Participants provided fasting blood samples, and CD45+CD34+KDR+ and CD45+CD133+KDR+ CPCs were assayed by flow cytometry. We averaged the blom-transformed scores of both CPCs to create one index. Participants completed the perceived stress scale (PSS), the inventory for depressive symptoms (IDS), and reported on daily interactions with their children and partners, averaged over 7 nights. RESULTS: M-ASD exhibited lower CPCs than M-NT (Cohen's d=0.83; p⩽0.01), controlling for age, BMI, and physical activity. Across the whole sample, positive interactions were related to higher CPCs, and negative interactions to lower CPCs (allp's<0.05). The adverse effects of group on CPCs were significantly mediated through negative interactions with the child (indirect β=-0.24, p⩽0.01). In the full model, greater age (β=-0.19, p=0.04), BMI (β=-0.18, p=0.04), and negative interactions with the child (β=-0.33, p<0.01) were independently associated with lower CPCs. M-ASD had a less healthy lipid profile (total cholesterol/HDL), which in turn, was associated with lower CPCs. CONCLUSIONS:Chronic stress adversely impacts CPC number, an early-stage biomarker that predicts subclinical atherosclerosis and future CVD events, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and inflammatory factors. Among maternal caregivers, child-related interpersonal stress appears to be a key psychological predictor of stress-related CVD risk.
Authors: Adam M Zawada; Kyrill S Rogacev; Stephan H Schirmer; Martina Sester; Michael Böhm; Danilo Fliser; Gunnar H Heine Journal: Immunobiology Date: 2012-07-25 Impact factor: 3.144
Authors: Kirstin Aschbacher; Roland von Känel; Joel E Dimsdale; Thomas L Patterson; Paul J Mills; Brent T Mausbach; Matthew A Allison; Sonia Ancoli-Israel; Igor Grant Journal: Am J Geriatr Psychiatry Date: 2006-08 Impact factor: 4.105
Authors: Gian Paolo Fadini; Shoichi Maruyama; Takenori Ozaki; Akihiko Taguchi; James Meigs; Stefanie Dimmeler; Andreas M Zeiher; Saula de Kreutzenberg; Angelo Avogaro; Georg Nickenig; Caroline Schmidt-Lucke; Nikos Werner Journal: PLoS One Date: 2010-07-09 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Kirstin Aschbacher; Sarah Kornfeld; Martin Picard; Eli Puterman; Peter J Havel; Kimber Stanhope; Robert H Lustig; Elissa Epel Journal: Psychoneuroendocrinology Date: 2014-04-13 Impact factor: 4.905
Authors: Stefano Di Santo; Zijiang Yang; Moritz Wyler von Ballmoos; Jan Voelzmann; Nicolas Diehm; Iris Baumgartner; Christoph Kalka Journal: PLoS One Date: 2009-05-21 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Rebecca E Salomon; Kelly R Tan; Ashley Vaughan; Harry Adynski; Keely A Muscatell Journal: Int J Nurs Stud Date: 2019-09-13 Impact factor: 5.837