Noradrenergic and Hormonal Responses to Physical Exercise in Adolescents

Gerra, Gilberto; Caccavari, R.; Reali, N; Bonvicini, P.; Marcato, A.; Fertonani, Giuseppe; Delsignore, R; Passeri, M; Brambilla, Frăncesca

doi:10.1159/000118955

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…The expectation of a physically stressful task in male subjects with high frustration and anxiety and without overt anxiety disorders [17] did not induce the anticipation responses in stress hormones evidenced in the present study. The anticipation of undergoing the unknown procedure was more stressful than the expectation of physical exercise, particularly for male subjects.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 73%

“…The anticipation of the task in the subjects with anxiety disorder could have induced the secretion of stress hormones evidenced in the basal levels as reported for CORT in normal volunteers submitted to public speaking and mental arithmetics [60] and for ß-EP and PRL in female adolescents with anxiety and frustration in response to physical stress [17,61]. ACTH hypersecretion evidenced before the experimental stress in our anxious subjects has been found in association with higher trait anxiety ratings by other researchers [62].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…The anticipation of undergoing the unknown procedure was more stressful than the expectation of physical exercise, particularly for male subjects. Also, the reaction of NE and GH to physical exercise was lower in the subjects with subclinical anxiety than in the children with overt anxiety disorders [17,71].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…In our previous studies, significantly higher adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) responses to physical stress were evidenced in adolescents with anxiety and frustration and in children of divorced parents (i.e. departure of a divorced father from home) [16,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Other stress-hormones, such as ß-endorphin (ß-EP), prolactin (PRL) and testosterone (Te), have been reported to be involved in anxiety state, expectation of stress and preoperative stress with their tight relationships to monoaminergic pathways [17,[32][33][34][35], but some researchers did not confirm the participation of endogenous opioid and Te changes in anxiety and stress reactions [36,37]. The need for more research, particularly in the area of the neurobiological basis of anxiety, was recently suggested in a review concerning anxiety disorders in children and adolescents [38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neuroendocrine Responses to Psychological Stress in Adolescents with Anxiety Disorder

Gerra¹,

Zaimovic²,

Zambelli³

et al. 2000

Neuropsychobiology

140

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Neurotransmitter-neuroendocrine and cardiovascular responses to the administration of a psychologically stressful mixed-model test (Mental Arithmetic, Stroop Color Word Interference Task, Trier Social Stress Test) were examined in 20 male peripubertal subjects affected by anxiety disorder (group A: 14 with generalized anxiety disorder, 6 with generalized anxiety disorder and separation anxiety disorder) and 20 junior school adolescents, matched for age, without overt psychological disorders (group B). Plasma levels of norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (EPI), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), β-endorphin (β-EP), cortisol (CORT), growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and testosterone (Te) were measured immediately before the beginning of the tests and 30 min later at their end. Mean prestress values of GH, PRL, β-EP and ACTH were significantly higher in anxious subjects than in controls. There was no difference in NE, EPI, CORT and Te prestress levels in the two groups. After the psychological stress session NE, GH and Te concentrations increased significantly in anxious subjects (A), but not in controls. In contrast, β-EP and PRL decreased significantly during the psychological stress session in anxious subjects, and were unaffected by stress in the subjects without anxiety. No significant changes were found in ACTH, CORT and EPI during the challenge either in anxious subjects or in controls, which may be attributed to the late time of poststress blood sampling. In contrast to controls, heart rate and systolic blood pressure increased significantly in anxious subjects after psychological stress testing. Our data support the hypothesis that the hyperactivity of the noradrenergic system in response to stress is associated with anxiety disorders in adolescents and might influence the responses of GH and Te. High prestress basal values of stress hormones seem to be induced in anxious subjects by the anticipation of the task or by a persistent hyperactivity of the noradrenergic system. Further studies are needed to investigate in more detail the involvement of the HPA axis in anxious adolescents by a more refined resolution of time points of blood sampling.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 73%