Authors:	Herhaus, Benedict Neuberger, Elmo Juškevičiūtė, Ema Simon, Perikles Petrowski, Katja
Title:	Kinetics of plasma cell-free DNA under a highly standardized and controlled stress induction
Online publication date:	26-May-2023
Year of first publication:	2023
Language:	english
Abstract:	Psychological stress affects the immune system and activates peripheral inflammatory pathways. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is associated with systemic inflammation, and recent research indicates that cfDNA is an inflammatory marker that is sensitive to psychological stress in humans. The present study investigated the effects of acute stress on the kinetics of cfDNA in a within-subjects design. Twenty-nine males (mean age: 24.34 ± 4.08 years) underwent both the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a resting condition. Blood samples were collected at two time points before and at 9 time points up to 105 min after both conditions. The cfDNA immediately increased 2-fold after the TSST and returned to baseline levels after 30 min after the test, showing that a brief psychological stressor was sufficient to evoke a robust and rapid increase in cfDNA levels. No associations were detected between perceived stress, whereas subjects with higher basal cfDNA levels showed higher increases. The rapid cfDNA regulation might be attributed to the transient activation of immune cells caused by neuroendocrine-immune activation. Further research is required to evaluate the reliability of cfDNA as a marker of neuroendocrine-immune activation, which could be used for diagnostics purposes or monitoring of treatment progression.
DDC:	610 Medizin 610 Medical sciences
Institution:	Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Department:	FB 04 Medizin
Place:	Mainz
ROR:	https://ror.org/023b0x485
DOI:	http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-9129
Version:	Published version
Publication type:	Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Document type specification:	Scientific article
License:	CC BY
Information on rights of use:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Journal:	Cells 12 4
Pages or article number:	564
Publisher:	MDPI
Publisher place:	Basel
Issue date:	2023
ISSN:	2073-4409
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12040564
Publisher DOI:	10.3390/cells12040564
Appears in collections:	DFG-491381577-G