Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Kleyn, C. Elise
• Schneider, Laura
• Saraceno, Rosita
• Mantovani, Cristina
• Richards, Helen L.
• Fortune, Donal G.
• Cumberbatch, Marie
• Dearman, Rebecca J.
• Terenghi, Giorgio
• Kimber, Ian
• Griffiths, Christopher E.M.

Titel

The Effects of Acute Social Stress on Epidermal Langerhans' Cell Frequency and Expression of Cutaneous Neuropeptides

Ist Teil von

• Journal of investigative dermatology, 2008-05, Vol.128 (5), p.1273-1279

Ort / Verlag

Danvers, MA: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Psychological stress is believed to exacerbate inflammatory skin disease but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. We investigated the impact of acute social stress – Trier public speaking test – on: epidermal Langerhans’ cell (LC) frequency; and cutaneous nerve fiber expression of protein gene product (PGP) 9.5 and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). Thirty-six healthy volunteers each had a pair of baseline 6mm biopsies taken from sun-protected buttock skin. A second pair of biopsies was taken from contralateral buttock 4hours (n=5) or 24hours (n=15) after the Trier stressor. Controls (n=16) did not perform the Trier and had biopsies 24hours apart. One of each pair of biopsies (baseline; 4 or 24hours) was processed for counts of epidermal CD1a+ LC; the other examined for PGP 9.5 and CGRP expression. We observed a significant (P<0.01) 16.4% reduction in epidermal LC frequency 24hours post-stressor as compared with baseline; there was no significant change from baseline in non-stressed controls. At 24hours, PGP 9.5 and CGRP were increased (P=0.025) and reduced (P=0.03), respectively, from baseline in the stressed group compared with controls. These data suggest that acute social stress reduces epidermal LC frequency and modulates cutaneous neuropeptide expression thereby supporting the concept of a “brain–skin” axis.