Day-to-day cause–effect relations between cellular immune activity, fatigue and mood in a patient with prior breast cancer and current cancer-related fatigue and depression

Haberkorn, Julia; Burbaum, Christina; Fritzsche, Kurt; Geser, Willi; Fuchs, Dietmar; Ocaña‐Peinado, Francisco M.; Schubert, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.03.001

Cited by 19 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This study is part of a wider project using the “integrative single case study” design ( Schubert et al, 1999 , 2012 ) to investigate the impact of emotionally meaningful daily incidents on stress system activity in breast cancer survivors suffering from cancer-related fatigue. Results from this study have already been published ( Haberkorn et al, 2013 ; Singer et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Bidirectional Cause–Effect Relationship Between Urinary Interleukin-6 and Mood, Irritation, and Mental Activity in a Breast Cancer Survivor

Schubert

Hagen

2018

Front. Neurosci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This “integrative single-case study” investigated the bidirectional cause and effect relations between various emotional states (i.e., mood, irritation, mental activity) and urinary IL-6 levels in a 49-year-old female breast cancer survivor (woman) under conditions of “life as it is lived.” During a period of 28 days, the patient collected her entire urine in 12-h intervals for IL-6 measurement and completed each morning and evening a list of adjectives regarding mood, irritation, and mental activity (55 measurements in total). Autoregressive integrated moving average modeling revealed a 4-day (circasemiseptan) cycle in the IL-6 time series. Furthermore, cross-correlational analyses after controlling for serial dependencies (significance level: p < 0.05) showed that worsening in mood and increases in irritation were followed by increases in urinary IL-6 levels with temporal delays between 12 and 36 h. In the opposite direction of effect, increases in urinary IL-6 levels were followed by elevations in mood and mental activity as well as decreases in irritation with temporal delays between 48 and 72 h. These results from cross-correlational analyses suggest that IL-6 may have a regulatory function in psychoneuroimmunological interplay and that, under certain conditions, IL-6 may be involved in health rather than sickness behavior. Moreover, the findings of this study are indicators of real-life negative feedback loops and are in line with psychoneuroimmunological research postulating complex brain-to-body-to-brain network-like structures.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Bidirectional Cause–Effect Relationship Between Urinary Interleukin-6 and Mood, Irritation, and Mental Activity in a Breast Cancer Survivor

Schubert

Hagen

2018

Front. Neurosci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Time-series analysis is part of our “integrative single-case design,” a study design that investigates stress system dynamics in a single individual under highly preserved everyday-life conditions ( 13 , 18 , 25 , 26 ). In a previous article on the integrative single-case study presented here (same patient), we provided first evidence of real-life bidirectional relations between fatigue, mood, and urinary neopterin concentrations ( 27 ). Statistical analysis of 55 consecutive 12-h measurements (28 days) revealed that increases in urinary neopterin levels significantly preceded increases in fatigue intensity with a temporal delay of 60–72 h. Furthermore, increases in positive mood co-occurred with neopterin level increases and preceded decreases in neopterin concentrations with a delay of 132–144 h. Neopterin is released by macrophages upon interferon gamma (IFN-γ) activation and indicates cellular immune system activation and oxidative stress ( 28 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…The applied study design is described in detail elsewhere ( 13 , 18 , 25 , 26 ). Shortly before the study began, the patient was examined medically and psychologically to check for inclusion and exclusion criteria ( 27 ). During the study period of 28 days (from July 13th to August 9th, 2006), the patient collected her full urine output in 12-h intervals (from approximately 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. and from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) to determine urinary neopterin and creatinine levels (total: 55 measurements).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective Positive and Negative Sleep Variables Differentially Affect Cellular Immune Activity in a Breast Cancer Survivor: A Time-series Analysis Approach

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study on a breast cancer survivor suffering from cancer-related fatigue (CaRF) and depression investigated the bidirectional relationship between cellular immune activity and subjective sleep. The 49-year-old patient (breast cancer diagnosis 5 years before the study, currently in remission) collected her full urine output for 28 days in 12-h intervals (8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.). These urine samples were used to determine urinary neopterin (cellular immune activation marker) and creatinine concentrations via high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Each morning, the patient answered questions on five sleep variables: sleep quality (SQ), sleep recreational value (SRV), total sleep time (TST), total wake time (TWT), and awakenings during sleep period (ADS). For the purpose of this study, the time series of the nighttime urinary neopterin levels and the five sleep variables were determined. Using centered moving average (CMA) smoothing and cross-correlational analysis, this study showed that increases in the positive sleep variables SQ and SRV were followed by urinary neopterin concentration decreases after 96–120 h (SQ, lag 4: r = −0.411; p = 0.044; SRV: lag 4: r = −0.472; p = 0.021) and 120–144 h (SRV, lag 5: r = −0.464; p = 0.026). Increases in the negative sleep variable TWT, by contrast, were followed by increases in urinary neopterin concentrations 72–96 h later (lag 3: r = 0.522; p = 0.009). No systematic effects in the other direction, i.e., from urinary neopterin levels to sleep, were observed in this study. Although preliminary, the findings of this study highlight the benefit of carefully investigating temporal delays and directions of effects when studying the dynamic relationship between sleep and immune variables in the natural context of everyday life.

show abstract

“…After primary oncological treatments, it could be more suitable a PTG facilitation therapy, where patients begins to accommodate the experience and are open to consider vital changes. In fact, there is an association between high levels of posttraumatic stress and loss of quality of life in cancer survivor patients ( Haberkorn et al, 2013 ), which could be buffered by PTG ( Morrill et al, 2006 ) after oncological treatments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Severe illnesses like cancer are adverse life experiences that have a high psychological impact. Many investigations have explored the negative psychological consequences of cancer, which include fatigue, distress, depression, and posttraumatic stress ( Haberkorn et al, 2013 , Sheppard et al, 2013 ). In fact, 35%–38% of patients develop distress when diagnosed with cancer ( Carlson, Waller, & Mitchell, 2012 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive psychotherapy for distressed cancer survivors: Posttraumatic growth facilitation reduces posttraumatic stress

Ochoa

Casellas‐Grau

Vives

et al. 2017

International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background/ObjectiveThere is increasing evidence that positive life changes, such as posttraumatic growth (PTG), can result from the experience of coping with cancer. However, no interventions have been specifically designed to facilitate the development of PTG in cancer. In this article, we describe and assess the results of Positive Psychotherapy for Cancer (PPC) survivors. It aims to facilitate PTG as a way of achieving significant reductions in the symptoms of emotional distress and posttraumatic stress. In addition, the corroboration of this PTG facilitation is assessed using interpersonal indicators. Method: We allocated 126 consecutive survivors of cancer with high levels of emotional distress and who were seeking psychological support to either an experimental group (PPC) or a waiting list group. Results: The PPC group obtained significantly better results after treatment than the control group, showing reduced distress, decreased posttraumatic symptoms, and increased PTG. The benefits were maintained at 3 and 12 months’ follow-up. Participants’ PTG was correlated to the PTG that their significant others attributed to them, corroborating PTG facilitation. Conclusions: PPC appears to promote significant long-term PTG and can reduce emotional distress and posttraumatic stress in cancer survivors. In addition, PTG facilitation induced by PPC is corroborated by significant others.

show abstract

Day-to-day cause–effect relations between cellular immune activity, fatigue and mood in a patient with prior breast cancer and current cancer-related fatigue and depression

Cited by 19 publications

References 27 publications

Bidirectional Cause–Effect Relationship Between Urinary Interleukin-6 and Mood, Irritation, and Mental Activity in a Breast Cancer Survivor

Bidirectional Cause–Effect Relationship Between Urinary Interleukin-6 and Mood, Irritation, and Mental Activity in a Breast Cancer Survivor

Subjective Positive and Negative Sleep Variables Differentially Affect Cellular Immune Activity in a Breast Cancer Survivor: A Time-series Analysis Approach

Positive psychotherapy for distressed cancer survivors: Posttraumatic growth facilitation reduces posttraumatic stress

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About