Abstract
Despite clear exacerbation of several skin disorders by stress, the effect of psychologic or exertional stress on human skin has not been well studied. We investigated the effect of three different stressors, psychologic interview stress, sleep deprivation, and exercise, on several dermatologic measures: transepidermal water loss, recovery of skin barrier function after tape stripping, and stratum corneum water content (skin conductance). We simultaneously measured the effects of stress on plasma levels of several stress-response hormones and cytokines, natural killer cell activity, and absolute numbers of peripheral blood leukocytes. Twenty-five women participated in a laboratory psychologic interview stress, 11 women participated in one night of sleep deprivation, and 10 women participated in a 3 d exercise protocol. The interview stress caused a delay in the recovery of skin barrier function, as well as increases in plasma cortisol, norepinephrine, interleukin-1β and interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, and an increase in circulating natural killer cell activity and natural killer cell number. Sleep deprivation also decreased skin barrier function recovery and increased plasma interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and natural killer cell activity. The exercise stress did not affect skin barrier function recovery, but caused an increase in natural killer cell activity and circulating numbers of both cytolytic T lymphocytes and helper T cells. In addition, cytokine responses to the interview stress were inversely correlated with changes in barrier function recovery. These results suggest that acute psychosocial and sleep deprivation stress disrupts skin barrier function homeostasis in women, and that this disruption may be related to stress-induced changes in cytokine secretion.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 309-317 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of Investigative Dermatology |
| Volume | 117 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2001 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Cytokine
- Natural killer cell
- Psychologic stress
- Sleep deprivation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Dermatology
- Cell Biology
Cite this
Stress-induced changes in skin barrier function in healthy women. / Altemus, Margaret; Rao, Babar; Dhabhar, Firdaus; Ding, Wanhong; Granstein, Richard D.
In: Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Vol. 117, No. 2, 01.01.2001, p. 309-317.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Stress-induced changes in skin barrier function in healthy women
AU - Altemus, Margaret
AU - Rao, Babar
AU - Dhabhar, Firdaus
AU - Ding, Wanhong
AU - Granstein, Richard D.
PY - 2001/1/1
Y1 - 2001/1/1
N2 - Despite clear exacerbation of several skin disorders by stress, the effect of psychologic or exertional stress on human skin has not been well studied. We investigated the effect of three different stressors, psychologic interview stress, sleep deprivation, and exercise, on several dermatologic measures: transepidermal water loss, recovery of skin barrier function after tape stripping, and stratum corneum water content (skin conductance). We simultaneously measured the effects of stress on plasma levels of several stress-response hormones and cytokines, natural killer cell activity, and absolute numbers of peripheral blood leukocytes. Twenty-five women participated in a laboratory psychologic interview stress, 11 women participated in one night of sleep deprivation, and 10 women participated in a 3 d exercise protocol. The interview stress caused a delay in the recovery of skin barrier function, as well as increases in plasma cortisol, norepinephrine, interleukin-1β and interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, and an increase in circulating natural killer cell activity and natural killer cell number. Sleep deprivation also decreased skin barrier function recovery and increased plasma interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and natural killer cell activity. The exercise stress did not affect skin barrier function recovery, but caused an increase in natural killer cell activity and circulating numbers of both cytolytic T lymphocytes and helper T cells. In addition, cytokine responses to the interview stress were inversely correlated with changes in barrier function recovery. These results suggest that acute psychosocial and sleep deprivation stress disrupts skin barrier function homeostasis in women, and that this disruption may be related to stress-induced changes in cytokine secretion.
AB - Despite clear exacerbation of several skin disorders by stress, the effect of psychologic or exertional stress on human skin has not been well studied. We investigated the effect of three different stressors, psychologic interview stress, sleep deprivation, and exercise, on several dermatologic measures: transepidermal water loss, recovery of skin barrier function after tape stripping, and stratum corneum water content (skin conductance). We simultaneously measured the effects of stress on plasma levels of several stress-response hormones and cytokines, natural killer cell activity, and absolute numbers of peripheral blood leukocytes. Twenty-five women participated in a laboratory psychologic interview stress, 11 women participated in one night of sleep deprivation, and 10 women participated in a 3 d exercise protocol. The interview stress caused a delay in the recovery of skin barrier function, as well as increases in plasma cortisol, norepinephrine, interleukin-1β and interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, and an increase in circulating natural killer cell activity and natural killer cell number. Sleep deprivation also decreased skin barrier function recovery and increased plasma interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and natural killer cell activity. The exercise stress did not affect skin barrier function recovery, but caused an increase in natural killer cell activity and circulating numbers of both cytolytic T lymphocytes and helper T cells. In addition, cytokine responses to the interview stress were inversely correlated with changes in barrier function recovery. These results suggest that acute psychosocial and sleep deprivation stress disrupts skin barrier function homeostasis in women, and that this disruption may be related to stress-induced changes in cytokine secretion.
KW - Cytokine
KW - Natural killer cell
KW - Psychologic stress
KW - Sleep deprivation
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0035722018&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1046/j.1523-1747.2001.01373.x
DO - 10.1046/j.1523-1747.2001.01373.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 11511309
AN - SCOPUS:0035722018
VL - 117
SP - 309
EP - 317
JO - Journal of Investigative Dermatology
JF - Journal of Investigative Dermatology
SN - 0022-202X
IS - 2
ER -