We all know that stress affects many aspects of the body’s health, so what new findings do scientists have?
- Mol Bio Cell: environmental pressure-mediated gene mutation leads to drug resistance of cancer cells!
How to obtain gene mutation in cells is a very basic biological problem, which has an impact on many fields of biomedical research (from tumor evolution to cell multidrug resistance). Although karyotype heterogeneity is a feature of cancer cells, researchers have rarely found mutations in cancer cell genomes that lead to chromosomal instability, which means that the phenomenon is also affected by a number of non-genetic factors. Biomedical scientists from the A*STAR Institute in Singapore have recently found that extreme conditions aimed at killing cancer cells make them more resistant to treatment. For example, rising temperatures, lack of nutrients, and other environmental pressures can cause cancer cells to obtain a large number of gene mutations, some of which make cancer cells more resistant to commonly used anticancer drugs. The study warns against the use of maximum therapeutic pressure to eliminate tumors.
- Am J Epidemiol: stress may reduce women’s fertility.
In North America, about 20 percent of women of childbearing age and 18 percent of men of childbearing age report daily psychological stress, although previous studies have shown that stress reduces the risk of conception. However, few studies have analyzed the effect of stress on the fertility of couples in the general population. In a recent study published in the international journal American Journal of Epidemiology, scientists from Boston University School of Medicine found that high levels of stress were directly related to reducing pregnancy rates in women.
- Nat Cell Biol: stress or trigger systemic immune response.
Humans and other mammals adapt to and respond to stress through a series of evolutions. When faced with predators hunting or losing their jobs, mammals, and humans release a series of stress hormones, raising heart rates, breathing faster, muscle tension, and sweating. This response was good for our ancestors, but it continued to be activated in modern life today at a cost. Scientists are beginning to recognize that stress usually exacerbates several diseases, including depression, diabetes, heart disease, AIDS and asthma. One of the theories that explain the link between stress and these widespread injuries points to an unexpected source: tiny “power rooms” in each cell.
- Nature: Pressure may affect the body’s neural circuits and leave permanent traces.
Before male nematodes mature sexually, scientists can prevent them from reaching puberty by “hunger”, scientists from Columbia University said in a recent study published in the international journal Nature. Starvation stress a few days before sexual maturity inhibits normal changes in the wiring patterns of key neural circuits in the brain, leading to immature adult male nematodes.
- Father’s stress can change the brain development of offspring!
A new study in mice found that the father’s stress affected brain development in offspring. This stress can lead to changes in the father’s sperm, which in turn changes the child’s brain development. The new study provides a deeper explanation for the role of fathers in a child’s brain development. Scientists have long known that mothers’ environments during pregnancy, such as diet, stress, and infection, can have a negative impact on offspring, possibly because they affect the expression of certain genes. But the team, led by neuroscientist Tracy Bale of the University of Maryland School Of Medicine, has now found that paternal stress also affects the development of offspring, mainly by changing the important characteristics of sperm.
- J Leukoc Biol: How does stress make us sick?
Recently, researchers from Michigan State University have shown how specific types of stress interact with immune cells and regulate the response of immune cells to allergens, eventually inducing symptoms and diseases in the body. The researchers, published in the international journal Journal of Leukocyte Biology, say pressure receptors called corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF-1) send signals to mast cells and control the way these immune cells protect the body. Professor Adam Moeser, said mast cells are highly activated in response to stress conditions experienced by the body, and when this happens, CRF-1 tells mast cells to release chemicals that trigger inflammation and allergic diseases. These include irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, life-threatening food allergies and autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Histamine, a chemical that helps the body effectively remove invading allergens, such as pollen and dust, also induces allergic reactions that, under normal conditions, help the body remove allergens from the body.