There is as yet no effective treatment for endometriosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of submitting women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain to a therapeutic protocol involving physical and psychological therapy. Twenty-six female volunteers were submitted to a treatment protocol consisting of 2.5-h sessions, once a week for 10 weeks. We applied a Visual Analogue Scale, the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Morning, afternoon, and evening levels of cortisol were determined in saliva samples. The PSQ scores were significantly lower after treatment, whereas the scores for the SF-36 vitality and physical functioning domains were significantly higher. Salivary cortisol levels were higher after treatment in the samples collected in the morning, but not in those collected in the afternoon or evening. The post-treatment cortisol levels were similar to those reported for healthy women. There were positive correlations between vitality, role emotional, social functioning, and mental health, and negative correlations to perceived stress. In conclusion, the physical and psychological intervention protocol applied in this study to women suffering of endometriosis was effective in reducing perceived stress, normalizing cortisol levels, increasing vitality and improving physical functioning.

In the heart, catecholamine effects occur by activation of beta-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs), mainly the beta 1 (β-AR) and beta 2 (β-AR) subtypes, both of which couple to the Gs protein that activates the adenylyl cyclase signaling pathway. The β-ARs can also couple to the Gi protein that counterbalances the effect of the Gs protein on cyclic adenosine monophosphate production and activates the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt signaling pathway. In several cardiovascular disorders, including heart failure, as well as in aging and in animal models of environmental stress, a reduction in the β/β-AR ratio and activation of the β-AR-Gi-PI3K-Akt signaling pathway have been observed. Recent studies have shown that sirtuins modulate certain organic processes, including the cellular stress response, through activation of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and of downstream molecules such as p53, Akt, HIF1-α, and nuclear factor-kappa B. In the heart, SIRT1, SIRT3, and β-ARs are crucial to the regulation of the cardiomyocyte energy metabolism, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species production, and autophagy. SIRT1 and the β-AR-Gi complex also control signaling pathways of cell survival and death. Here, we review the role played by β-ARs and sirtuins during aging, heart failure, and adaptation to stress, focusing on the putative interplay between the two. That relationship, if proven, merits further investigation in the context of cardiac function and dysfunction.

Altered sensitivity to the chronotropic effect of catecholamines and a reduction in the β/β-adrenoceptor ratio have previously been reported in right atria of stressed rats, human failing heart, and aging. In this report, we investigated whether left atrial inotropism was affected by foot-shock stress. Male rats were submitted to 3 foot-shock sessions and the left atrial inotropic response, adenylyl cyclase activity, and β-adrenoceptor expression were investigated. Left atria of stressed rats were supersensitive to isoprenaline when compared with control rats and this effect was abolished by ICI118,551, a selective β-receptor antagonist. Schild plot slopes for the antagonism between CGP20712A (a selective β-receptor antagonist) and isoprenaline differed from unity in atria of stressed but not control rats. Atrial sensitivity to norepinephrine, as well as basal and forskolin- or isoprenaline-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activities were not altered by stress. The effect of isoprenaline on adenylyl cyclase stimulation was partially blocked by ICI118,551 in atrial membranes of stressed rats. These findings indicate that foot-shock stress equally affects inotropism and chronotropism and that β-adrenoceptor upregulation contributes to the enhanced inotropic response to isoprenaline.

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This study aimed to investigate changes and correlations between mood states and various physiological stress markers after a 7-week preseason period among elite female soccer players. Twenty-four elite female soccer players participated in this study (26.4 6 3.7 years). Their internal training load, mood states, day and evening salivary testosterone and cortisol concentrations, blood creatine kinase concentration (CK), and heart rate variability (HRV) were assessed during the first week of preseason (PRE), and again 7 weeks after a systematic training period (END). After the preseason, there were significant increases in subject negative mood scales (p # 0.03; Effect Size [ES] . 0.60), total mood scores (p 5 0.01; QI 5 100/0/0; ES 5 1.32), day and evening testosterone and cortisol concentrations (p # 0.03; ES . 0.54), and CK concentrations (p 5 0.01; QI 5 100/0/0; ES 5 1.54). Correlations were found between cortisol and tension (r 5 0.53 and 0.60; p # 0.02), cortisol and confusion (r 5 0.75; p 5 0.01), and cortisol and the LF/HF index of HRV (r 5 20.52; p 5 0.04). Mood states (except vigor), salivary testosterone, and cortisol concentrations, as well as CK, showed significant changes after a 7-week systematic training system. The cortisol was the factor most highly related to various mood states (including tension and confusion), and with the HRV indices. Coaches and researchers can use these data to design, monitor, and control soccer training programs, in particular throughout the preseason period.