Kudielka Brigitte M, Fischer Joachim E, Metzenthin Petra, Helfricht Susanne, Preckel Daniel, von Känel Roland
Department of Theoretical and Clinical Psychobiology, Graduate School of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
Neuropsychobiology. 2007;56(2-3):159-66. doi: 10.1159/000115783. Epub 2008 Feb 7.
The characterization of an individual's hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress response is a main research topic in neuropsychobiology since alterations have been causally linked to several disease states. Over the last years, several studies focused on the identification of sources of inter- and intraindividual variability, but there is still a paucity of experimental data on the effect of different pharmaceuticals on cortisol responses to acute psychological stress. Therefore, in this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study, we investigated the effect of treatment with two popular and clinically used pharmaceuticals on stress-related cortisol responses, namely acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), a known prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor, and the beta-blocker propranolol (Inderal), a nonselective beta-receptor antagonist.
For 5 days, 73 healthy subjects (50 men, 23 women; mean age 47.3 +/- 7.7 years) received either a daily oral dose of 100 mg aspirin, 80 mg propranolol (Inderal), aspirin + propranolol, or placebo. After treatment, subjects were confronted with the Trier Social Stress Test, a widely-used standardized psychosocial stress protocol. Cortisol responses were measured by six saliva samples taken before and after the stress exposure.
Subjects showed a significant cortisol increase after stress (p < 0.0001). The four treatment groups did not differ in their cortisol responses (group effect p > 0.44; interaction p > 0.97). Additionally, controlling for gender, age, smoking status, body mass index, mean arterial blood pressure or pre-stress cortisol levels yielded similar results in the total sample as well as in the male or female subgroups, respectively.
Neither short-term treatment with aspirin nor propranolol altered the acute free cortisol response to psychological stress in healthy adults.
个体下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺轴应激反应的特征是神经心理生物学的一个主要研究课题，因为其改变已与多种疾病状态存在因果联系。在过去几年中，多项研究聚焦于个体间和个体内变异性来源的识别，但关于不同药物对急性心理应激时皮质醇反应影响的实验数据仍然匮乏。因此，在这项随机双盲安慰剂对照研究中，我们调查了两种常用临床药物治疗对与应激相关的皮质醇反应的影响，即乙酰水杨酸（阿司匹林），一种已知的前列腺素合成抑制剂，以及β受体阻滞剂普萘洛尔（心得安），一种非选择性β受体拮抗剂。
73名健康受试者（50名男性，23名女性；平均年龄47.3±7.7岁）连续5天每日口服100毫克阿司匹林、80毫克普萘洛尔（心得安）、阿司匹林 + 普萘洛尔或安慰剂。治疗后，受试者接受了特里尔社会应激测试，这是一种广泛使用的标准化心理社会应激方案。通过应激暴露前后采集的6份唾液样本测量皮质醇反应。
应激后受试者的皮质醇显著升高（p < 0.0001）。四个治疗组的皮质醇反应没有差异（组效应p > 0.44；交互作用p > 0.97）。此外，在总体样本以及男性或女性亚组中，分别控制性别、年龄、吸烟状况、体重指数、平均动脉血压或应激前皮质醇水平，得到了相似的结果。
在健康成年人中，阿司匹林或普萘洛尔的短期治疗均未改变对心理应激的急性游离皮质醇反应。
