Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 6001 Research Park Blvd, Madison, WI 53719, USA; Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 625 W. Washington Ave., Madison, WI 53703, USA.
Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health-Madison, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53792, USA.
Biol Psychol. 2022 Jan;167:108226. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108226. Epub 2021 Nov 17.
Psychological stress, an important contributor to asthma morbidity, potentiates the immune response to allergen, but the brain mechanisms mediating this response are not fully understood. The amygdala is likely to play an important role, given its sensitivity to threat and connectivity with descending immune modulatory pathways. In this study, we recruited thirty asthmatic participants and examined glucose metabolism in the amygdala, using [F-18]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, during a laboratory stressor. Stress hormone and airway inflammatory measurements were also acquired. Results showed that activity in the amygdala was significantly increased during the stressor, compared to a matched control task (p < .05 corrected). Moreover, the increase in amygdala activity was associated with a greater increase in sputum IL-1R1 mRNA and alpha amylase response (p < .05 corrected), which were also positively correlated (p = .01). These findings suggest that heightened amygdala reactivity may contribute to asthma morbidity via descending proinflammatory sympathetic signaling pathways.
心理压力是哮喘发病率的一个重要因素，它会增强对过敏原的免疫反应，但大脑介导这种反应的机制尚不完全清楚。鉴于杏仁核对威胁的敏感性及其与下行免疫调节途径的连通性，它可能发挥着重要作用。在这项研究中，我们招募了 30 名哮喘患者，并在实验室应激源期间使用 [F-18] 氟脱氧葡萄糖正电子发射断层扫描来检查杏仁核的葡萄糖代谢。还获得了应激激素和气道炎症测量值。结果表明，与匹配的对照任务相比（p <.05 校正），杏仁核在应激期间的活动显着增加。此外，杏仁核活动的增加与痰中 IL-1R1 mRNA 和α-淀粉酶反应的增加呈正相关（p <.05 校正），并且它们之间也呈正相关（p =.01）。这些发现表明，杏仁核反应性增强可能通过下行促炎交感神经信号通路导致哮喘发病率增加。
