Stress and inflammation - Bridging acute and chronic stress effects

01.02.2025 bis 31.01.2027

Psychological stress is a ubiquitous factor in daily life, with the potential to precipitate various central nervous system and bodily organ diseases. Emerging evidence underscores the role of systemic inflammation, driven by stress, in contributing to a spectrum of conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders. Despite advancements in understanding the effects of acute and chronic stress on inflammation, the dynamic process transitioning from acute to chronic stress remains poorly elucidated. The proposed study will employ an intensive longitudinal study design to explore the psychoimmune covariance, addressing methodological challenges through ecological momentary assessment (EMA) techniques. This approach will allow for real-time, repeated measurements of an individual’s conditions in their natural environment, providing a nuanced analysis of within-person effects and between-person variations. The study aims to unravel the characteristics of acute stress responses and their accumulation leading to chronic stress, alongside identifying individual-level risk and protective factors influencing stress reactivity. By bridging the gap between acute and chronic stress effects on inflammation, this project holds the potential to inform preventive strategies and therapeutic interventions targeting stress-related diseases. Furthermore, the study's findings are expected to contribute significantly to the scientific understanding of stress and inflammation and aligns with the growing recognition of the importance of addressing chronic inflammation as a key mediator in the stress-disease continuum.