Resilience and immunity

Abstract

Resilience is the process that allows individuals to adapt to adverse conditions and recover from them. This process is favored by individual qualities that have been amply studied in the field of stress such as personal control, positive affect, optimism, and social support. Biopsychosocial studies on the individual qualities that promote resilience show that these factors help protect against the deleterious influences of stressors on physiology in general and immunity in particular. The reverse is also true as there is evidence that immune processes influence resilience. Most of the data supporting this relationship comes from animal studies on individual differences in the ability to resist situations of chronic stress. These data build on the knowledge that has accumulated on the influence of immune factors on brain and behavior in both animal and human studies. In general, resilient individuals have a different immunophenotype from that of stress susceptible individuals. It is possible to render susceptible individuals resilient and vice versa by changing their inflammatory phenotype. The adaptive immune phenotype also influences the ability to recover from inflammation-induced symptoms. The modulation of these bidirectional relationships between resilience and immunity by the gut microbiota opens the possibility to influence them by probiotics and prebiotics. However, more focused studies on the reciprocal relationship between resilience and immunity will be necessary before this can be put into practice.

Development and validation of the 22‐item Tarumi's Modern‐Type Depression Trait Scale: Avoidance of Social Roles, Complaint, and Low Self‐Esteem (TACS‐22)

“…Tryptophan metabolites, especially serotonin, have gathered greater attention in the endeavor to understand the pathophysiology of depression . In addition, metabolites of the tryptophan–kynurenine pathway are increasingly attracting interest . Just recently, we reported that plasma tryptophan is a possible diagnostic biomarker of MDD and that some of the tryptophan–kynurenine metabolites in plasma are related to severity of some depressive symptoms .…”

“…[41][42][43] In addition, metabolites of the tryptophan-kynurenine pathway are increasingly attracting interest. [44][45][46][47][48] Just recently, we reported that plasma tryptophan is a possible diagnostic biomarker of MDD and that some of the tryptophan-kynurenine metabolites in plasma are related to severity of some depressive symptoms. 49 We recently reported that the levels of plasma tryptophan and kynurenine are lower in MDD patients compared to healthy controls, and that especially lower levels of plasma tryptophan are a diagnostic biomarker of MDD.…”

The gut microbiota and its interactions with cardiovascular disease

“…The main concept has shifted from haemodynamic changes to neuro-humoral modulation. Most recently, the link between the gut microbiota and HF has drawn more attention (Dantzer, et al, 2018;Moshkelgosha, et al, 2018).…”

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) – A feasibility study

“…In the field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), these effects of pro-and anti-inflammatory mediators on the brain and behavior, and the vice versa effects, are the main foci of research (63,(70)(71)(72). Although it is beyond the scope of the present thesis, future research investigating how and which areas in the brain that may elicit, respond to or forward the sickness signals in the sickness behavior circuitry will be of utmost value for the development of our understanding of ME/CFS.…”