Title:Neuroendocrine Response to Psychosocial Stressors, Inflammation Mediators and Brain-periphery Pathways of Adaptation
Volume: 21
Issue: 1
Author(s): Lionella Palego, Gino Giannaccini and Laura Betti*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Pisa, Pisa,Italy
Keywords:
Stressors, psychosocial stressors, neuroendocrine axis, inflammatory/redox patterns, stress coping, resilience,
stress-related illness.
Abstract: Threats, challenging events, adverse experiences, predictable or unpredictable, namely
stressors, characterize life, being unavoidable for humans. The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal
axis (HPA) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) are well-known to underlie adaptation to
psychosocial stress in the context of other interacting systems, signals and mediators. However,
much more effort is necessary to elucidate these modulatory cues for a better understanding of
how and why the "brain-body axis" acts for resilience or, on the contrary, cannot cope with stress
from a biochemical and biological point of view. Indeed, failure to adapt increases the risk of developing
and/or relapsing mental illnesses such as burnout, post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), and at least some types of depression, even favoring/worsening neurodegenerative and
somatic comorbidities, especially in the elderly.
We will review here the current knowledge on this area, focusing on works presenting the main
brain centers responsible for stressor interpretation and processing, together with those underscoring
the physiology/biochemistry of endogenous stress responses. Autonomic and HPA patterns,
inflammatory cascades and energy/redox metabolic arrays will be presented as allostasis
promoters, leading towards adaptation to psychosocial stress and homeostasis, but also as possible
vulnerability factors for allostatic overload and non-adaptive reactions. Besides, the existence
of allostasis buffering systems will be treated. Finally, we will suggest promising lines of future
research, particularly the use of animal and cell culture models together with human studies by
means of high-throughput multi-omics technologies, which could entangle the biochemical signature
of resilience or stress-related illness, a considerably helpful facet for improving patients’
treatment and monitoring.
