Anticipation of Public Speaking and Sleep and the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal Axis in Women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Overview

Journal Neurogastroenterol Motil

Specialties Gastroenterology
Neurology

Date 2012 Apr 5

PMID 22471712

Citations 11

Authors

M M Heitkemper

K C Cain

W Deechakawan

A Poppe

S-E Jun

R L Burr

M E Jarrett

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Evidence suggests that subgroups of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are hyper-responsive to a variety of laboratory stress conditions.

Methods: This study compared sleep quality and night time plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and serum cortisol levels in response to anticipation of public speaking between 43 women with IBS and 24 healthy control women. In addition, comparisons were made between subgroups within the IBS sample based on predominant stool patterns, 22 IBS-constipation and 21 IBS-diarrhea. Subjects slept three nights in a sleep laboratory, and on the third night serial blood samples were drawn every 20 min from 08:00 PM until awakening. As the subjects had different sleep onsets, each subject's results were synchronized to the first onset of stage 2 sleep.

Key Results: Compared the healthy control group, women with IBS had significantly worse sleep efficiency, and higher cortisol but not ACTH levels over the night. However, there were no IBS bowel pattern subgroup differences. Among IBS subjects, cortisol levels early in the night were higher than found in our previous study with a similar protocol but without the threat of public speaking. These results suggest that a social stressor, such as public speaking prior to bedtime, increases cortisol but not ACTH levels suggesting HPA dysregulation in women with IBS.

Conclusions & Inferences: This response to a social stressor contributes to our understanding of the relationship of stress to symptom expression in IBS.

Citing Articles

Morphological Changes of the Pituitary Gland in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Chaaya J, Abou Chaaya J, Jaafar B, Saab L, Abou Chaaya J, Al Ahmar E J Imaging. 2024; 10(9).

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Genetic Variations in TrkB.T1 Isoform and Their Association With Somatic and Psychological Symptoms in Individuals With IBS.

Hong H, Mocci E, Kamp K, Zhu S, Cain K, Burr R J Pain. 2024; 25(11):104634.

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Associations between chronotype, social jetlag, and weekday sleep in women with irritable bowel syndrome.

Yang P, Burr R, de la Iglesia H, Buchanan D, Ward T, Landis C Chronobiol Int. 2021; 38(5):742-752.

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Psychological, physical, and sleep comorbidities and functional impairment in irritable bowel syndrome: Results from a national survey of U.S. adults.

Grover M, Kolla B, Pamarthy R, Mansukhani M, Breen-Lyles M, He J PLoS One. 2021; 16(1):e0245323.

PMID: 33444383 PMC: 7808669. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245323.

Tryptophan Metabolites in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: An Overnight Time-course Study.

Burr R, Gu H, Cain K, Djukovic D, Zhang X, Han C J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2019; 25(4):551-562.

PMID: 31587547 PMC: 6786437. DOI: 10.5056/jnm19042.

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