Madsen Saga Steinmann, Andersen Thomas Lund, Pihl-Thingvad Jesper, Brandt Lars, Olsen Birgitte Brinkmann, Gerke Oke, Videbech Poul
Center for Neuropsychiatric Depression Research, Mental Health Center Glostrup, University of Copenhagen, 2600 Glostrup, Denmark.
Research Unit of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark.
Diagnostics (Basel). 2024 Aug 9;14(16):1730. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics14161730.
Stress is a ubiquitous challenge in modern societies. Symptoms range from mood swings and cognitive impairment to autonomic symptoms. This study explores the link between work-related stress and the neurobiological element of brain processing, testing the hypothesis that patients with occupational stress have altered cerebral glucose consumption compared to healthy controls. The participants' present conditions were evaluated using an adapted WHO SCAN interview. Neural activity at rest was assessed by positron emission tomography (PET) with the glucose analogue [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose. Participants were genotyped for the Val158Met polymorphism of the gene, believed to influence stress resilience. This study included 11 women with work-related stress and 11 demographically comparable healthy controls aged 28-62 years, with an average of 46.2 years. The PET scans indicated clusters of decreased glucose consumption primarily located in the white matter of frontal lobe sub-gyral areas in stress patients. Val158Met polymorphism detection indicated no immediate relation of the homozygous alleles and stress resilience; however, healthy controls mainly had the heterozygous allele. In conclusion, the results support that work-related stress does affect the brain in the form of altered glucose metabolism, suggesting neurobiological effects could be related to white matter abnormalities rather than gray matter deterioration. Genotyping indicates a more complex picture than just that of the one type being more resilient to stress. Further studies recruiting a larger number of participants are needed to confirm our preliminary findings.
压力是现代社会中普遍存在的挑战。症状范围从情绪波动、认知障碍到自主神经症状。本研究探讨工作相关压力与大脑处理的神经生物学因素之间的联系，检验职业压力患者与健康对照组相比脑葡萄糖消耗改变的假设。使用改编后的世界卫生组织综合国际诊断访谈评估参与者的当前状况。通过正电子发射断层扫描（PET）和葡萄糖类似物[18F]氟脱氧葡萄糖评估静息时的神经活动。对参与者进行基因分型，检测被认为影响压力恢复力的基因的Val158Met多态性。本研究纳入了11名有工作相关压力的女性和11名年龄在28 - 62岁、平均年龄46.2岁、人口统计学特征匹配的健康对照者。PET扫描显示，压力患者大脑葡萄糖消耗减少的区域主要集中在额叶脑回下区域的白质。Val158Met多态性检测表明纯合等位基因与压力恢复力无直接关联；然而，健康对照者主要具有杂合等位基因。总之，结果支持工作相关压力确实以葡萄糖代谢改变的形式影响大脑，这表明神经生物学效应可能与白质异常而非灰质退化有关。基因分型表明情况比仅仅一种类型对压力更具恢复力更为复杂。需要招募更多参与者进行进一步研究以证实我们的初步发现。
