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Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students

The effects of stress on the neuroendocrine, central nervous and immune systems are extremely complex. The kynurenine pathway (KP) of the tryptophan metabolism is recognised as a cross-link between the neuroendocrine- and immune systems. However, the effects of acute stress from everyday life on KP...

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Main Authors: Myint, Kyaimon, Jacobs, Kelly, Myint, Aye Mu, Lam, Sau Kuen, Henden, Lyndal, Hoe, See Ziau, Guillemin, Gilles J.
Format: Article
Published: Public Library of Science 2021
Subjects:
R Medicine (General)
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/28598/
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spelling my.um.eprints.285982022-04-06T07:29:29Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/28598/ Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students Myint, Kyaimon Jacobs, Kelly Myint, Aye Mu Lam, Sau Kuen Henden, Lyndal Hoe, See Ziau Guillemin, Gilles J. R Medicine (General) The effects of stress on the neuroendocrine, central nervous and immune systems are extremely complex. The kynurenine pathway (KP) of the tryptophan metabolism is recognised as a cross-link between the neuroendocrine- and immune systems. However, the effects of acute stress from everyday life on KP activation have not yet been studied. This study aims to investigate changes in the levels of the KP neuroactive metabolites and cytokines in response to stress triggered by academic examinations. Ninety-two healthy first year medical students benevolently participated in the study. Parameters were measured pre- examination, which is considered to be a high-stress period, and post-examination, as a low-stress period. Stress induced by academic examinations significantly increases the perceived stress scores (p<0.001), serum cortisol levels (p<0.001) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels (p<0.01). It decreased IL-10 levels (p<0.05) but had no effect on IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels. Only the KP neuroactive metabolite, 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HK) significantly increased (p<0.01) in the post-examination period. In addition, the stress scores positively correlated with the levels of cortisol (r(2) = 0.297, p<0.01) at post examination. Acute stress triggered by academic examinations increases cortisol and BDNF production and suppresses the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, but did not increase significantly the levels of other pro-inflammatory cytokines, tryptophan, kynurenine and downstream KP metabolites. The concomitant increased levels of BDNF under the duress of acute examination stress appear to limit the levels pro-inflammatory markers, which may attenuate the action of cortisol and the neuroinflammatory branch of the KP. Public Library of Science 2021-06-03 Article PeerReviewed Myint, Kyaimon and Jacobs, Kelly and Myint, Aye Mu and Lam, Sau Kuen and Henden, Lyndal and Hoe, See Ziau and Guillemin, Gilles J. (2021) Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students. PLoS ONE, 16 (6). ISSN 1932-6203, DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252668 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252668>. 10.1371/journal.pone.0252668
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic R Medicine (General)
spellingShingle R Medicine (General)
Myint, Kyaimon
Jacobs, Kelly
Myint, Aye Mu
Lam, Sau Kuen
Henden, Lyndal
Hoe, See Ziau
Guillemin, Gilles J.
Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students
description The effects of stress on the neuroendocrine, central nervous and immune systems are extremely complex. The kynurenine pathway (KP) of the tryptophan metabolism is recognised as a cross-link between the neuroendocrine- and immune systems. However, the effects of acute stress from everyday life on KP activation have not yet been studied. This study aims to investigate changes in the levels of the KP neuroactive metabolites and cytokines in response to stress triggered by academic examinations. Ninety-two healthy first year medical students benevolently participated in the study. Parameters were measured pre- examination, which is considered to be a high-stress period, and post-examination, as a low-stress period. Stress induced by academic examinations significantly increases the perceived stress scores (p<0.001), serum cortisol levels (p<0.001) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels (p<0.01). It decreased IL-10 levels (p<0.05) but had no effect on IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels. Only the KP neuroactive metabolite, 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HK) significantly increased (p<0.01) in the post-examination period. In addition, the stress scores positively correlated with the levels of cortisol (r(2) = 0.297, p<0.01) at post examination. Acute stress triggered by academic examinations increases cortisol and BDNF production and suppresses the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, but did not increase significantly the levels of other pro-inflammatory cytokines, tryptophan, kynurenine and downstream KP metabolites. The concomitant increased levels of BDNF under the duress of acute examination stress appear to limit the levels pro-inflammatory markers, which may attenuate the action of cortisol and the neuroinflammatory branch of the KP.
format Article
author Myint, Kyaimon
Jacobs, Kelly
Myint, Aye Mu
Lam, Sau Kuen
Henden, Lyndal
Hoe, See Ziau
Guillemin, Gilles J.
author_facet Myint, Kyaimon
Jacobs, Kelly
Myint, Aye Mu
Lam, Sau Kuen
Henden, Lyndal
Hoe, See Ziau
Guillemin, Gilles J.
author_sort Myint, Kyaimon
title Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students
title_short Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students
title_full Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students
title_fullStr Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students
title_full_unstemmed Effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students
title_sort effects of stress associated with academic examination on the kynurenine pathway profile in healthy students
publisher Public Library of Science
publishDate 2021
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/28598/
_version_ 1735409561721896960
score 13.211869

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