Ricerc@Sapienza

In the current study, the possible association of positivity (POS), recently defined as general disposition to view life under positive outlook, with immune markers and post-stress modifications, was analyzed. Circulating lymphocyte subsets and serum cytokine levels were evaluated before and after a standard mild acute stress test, in 41 healthy students, previously selected by a questionnaire for their level of POS (high [POS-H] and low [POS-L]). The CD3(+) and CD4(+) cell frequency was higher in the POS-H students before and after acute stress.

Currently, the potential for cardiovascular (CV) stress-induced risk is primarily based on the theoretical (obvious) side effects of stress on the CV system. Salivary cortisol and ?-amylase, produced respectively by the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic-adrenomedullary (SAM) system during stress response, are still not included in the routine evaluation of CV risk and require additional and definitive validation.

Several data highlighted that stress exposure is strongly associated with several psychiatric disorders. The amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, has a pivotal role in psychiatric disorders and it has been demonstrated to be highly responsive to stressful events. Here we will review evidences indicating how the amygdala changes its functionality following exposure to stress and how this contributes to the onset of anxiety disorders.

Amphetamine is a potent psychostimulant which increases the release of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter crucially involved in the regulation of memory for stressful experiences. Here we investigated amphetamine effects on consolidation of long term object recognition memory in rats exposed to different stressful conditions. In a second set of experiments, we evaluated whether such effects were dependent on the activation of the peripheral adrenergic system.

no abstract available

Inflammation and oxidative stress are always more recognized as responsible for chronic disease at the intestinal level. Currently, a growing interest is addressed to the discovery of diet-derived products which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This work aims to characterize the pharmacological potential of dehydrated potatoes. For this purpose, a simulated gastrointestinal digestion was carried out.