BackgroundAmbulance personnel, as well as other emergency services like fire-fighters or the police force, are regularly confronted with experiences of extreme psychological distress and potentially traumatizing events in the line of their daily duties. As a consequence, this occupational group is exposed to an elevated risk of developing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSS). Subsequently, symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress have been observed as potentially co-occurring with Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) in ambulance personnel as well. Therefore, in this study we hypothesized that Sense of Coherence (SOC) might play an important role as an underlying feature in enabling growth after stressful experiences in Austrian ambulance personnel.MethodsIn this study, voluntary and full-time ambulance personnel (n = 266) of the Austrian Red Cross ambulance service completed an online survey including the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29), the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R) for the assessment of PTSS. In line with theoretical considerations, a two-step cluster analysis limited to four clusters and further ANOVAs were conducted.ResultsFour clusters were confirmed and labelled PTSS-low/PTG-low, PTSS-low/PTG-high, PTSS-high/PTG-high and PTSS-high/PTG-low. Further ANOVAs revealed substantial cluster differences in SOC, with higher SOC-levels in PTSS-high/PTG-high than in PTSS-high/PTG-low (p < .01), in PTSS-low/PTG-high than in PTSS-low/PTG-low (p < .01) and in PTSS-low/PTG-high than in PTSS-high/PTG-low (p < .01).ConclusionsOur findings point to a significant association between SOC and the development of PTG in ambulance personnel. Furthermore, the results suggest that growth and stress after critical incidents are independent from each other and can co-exist. Therefore, promoting SOC (e.g., meaningfulness) in ambulance personnel – e.g., through psychological interventions – might preserve and enhance psychological health after critical incidents.

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Background: Treatment options for NAFLD are still limited. Bariatric surgery, such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), has been shown to improve metabolic and histologic markers of NAFLD. Glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues lead to improvements in phase 2 clinical trials. We directly compared the effects of RYGB with a treatment using liraglutide and/or peptide tyrosine tyrosine 3-36 (PYY3-36) in a rat model for early NAFLD. Methods: Obese male Wistar rats (high-fat diet (HFD)-induced) were randomized into the following treatment groups: RYGB, sham-operation (sham), liraglutide (0.4 mg/kg/day), PYY3-36 (0.1 mg/kg/day), liraglutide+PYY3-36, and saline. After an observation period of 4 weeks, liver samples were histologically evaluated, ELISAs and RNA sequencing + RT-qPCRs were performed. Results: RYGB and liraglutide+PYY3-36 induced a similar body weight loss and, compared to sham/saline, marked histological improvements with significantly less steatosis. However, only RYGB induced significant metabolic improvements (e.g., adiponectin/leptin ratio 18.8 ± 11.8 vs. 2.4 ± 1.2 in liraglutide+PYY3-36- or 1.4 ± 0.9 in sham-treated rats). Furthermore, RNA sequencing revealed a high number of differentially regulated genes in RYGB treated animals only. Conclusions: The combination therapy of liraglutide+PYY3-36 partly mimics the positive effects of RYGB on weight reduction and on hepatic steatosis, while its effects on metabolic function lack behind RYGB.

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