JCI table of contents: Nov. 1, 2007

It is well known that being stressed increases our susceptibility to infections by impairing the function of our immune system, but the molecular links between stress and diminished immune function have not been determined. However, Peter Elias and colleagues at UCSF, have now characterized a mechanistic link in mice between psychological stress and increased susceptibility to skin infections.

Mice subjected to conditions of psychological stress were found to be more susceptible to group A Streptococcus pyogenes skin infections than mice housed under normal conditions. This was associated with decreased expression of antimicrobial peptides by the epidermis of the skin. Further analysis revealed that psychological stress induced the increased production of glucocorticoids and that this inhibited the synthesis of fats in the epidermis of the skin and decreased the secretion of vesicles that contain antimicrobial peptides. As indicated by the authors and Andrzej Slominski from the University of Tennessee, Memphis, in an accompanying commentary, these data lead to the suggestion that the immune function of the skin might be improved in individuals who are stressed by inhibiting the action of glucocorticoids.

TITLE: Psychological stress downregulates epidermal antimicrobial peptide expression and increases severity of cutaneous infections in mice

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Peter M. Elias
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Phone: (415) 750-2091; Fax: (415) 751-3927; E-mail: .

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=31726

ACCOMPANYING COMMENTARY

TITLE: A nervous breakdown in the skin: Stress and the epidermal barrier

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Andrzej Slominski
University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Phone: (901) 448-3741; Fax: (901) 448-6979; Email: .

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=33508

EDITOR'S PICK: The chemical peroxynitrite tolerates pain

The repeated use of opiate drugs such as morphine to relieve chronic pain results in individuals having to take higher and higher doses of the drug to achieve equivalent pain relief (they are said to exhibit antinociceptive tolerance). The molecular reasons for antinociceptive tolerance are not well defined. However, a new study by Daniela Salvemini and colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, has identified a crucial role for the chemical peroxynitrite (ONOO^-) in this process in mice. These results led the authors and Gavril Pasternak from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, in an accompanying commentary, to suggest that the development of drugs targeting ONOO^- might provide an adjunct therapy for individuals using opiates to relieve chronic pain.