Distinct CCL2, CCL5, CCL11, CCL27, IL-17, IL-6, BDNF serum profiles correlate to different job-stress outcomes

Alessio Polacchini; Damiano Girardi; Alessandra Falco; Nunzia Zanotta; Manola Comar; Nicola Alberto De Carlo; Enrico Tongiorgi

doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2018.02.002

Distinct CCL2, CCL5, CCL11, CCL27, IL-17, IL-6, BDNF serum profiles correlate to different job-stress outcomes

Neurobiol Stress. 2018 Feb 16:8:82-91. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2018.02.002. eCollection 2018 Feb.

Authors

Alessio Polacchini¹, Damiano Girardi², Alessandra Falco², Nunzia Zanotta³, Manola Comar^{3

4}, Nicola Alberto De Carlo², Enrico Tongiorgi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Giorgieri 5, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
² FISPPA Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 14, 35131, Padua, Italy.
³ Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS, Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Ospedale di Cattinara, Strada di Fiume 447, 34149 Trieste, Italy.

Abstract

Chronic psychosocial stress at workplace is an important factor in the development of physical and mental illness. Objective biological measures of chronic stress are still lacking, but inflammatory response and growth factors are increasingly considered as potential stress biomarkers. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between psychophysical strain and serum levels of 48 chemokines, cytokines and growth factors measured using a multiplex immunoassay, and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) measured by ELISA. Severity of psychophysical strain was scored in 115 healthy hospital workers using specific scales for anxiety, depression-like emotion, gastrointestinal or cardiac disturbances, and ergonomic dysfunction. Multivariate analysis revealed that higher anxiety scale scores were correlated with lower serum chemokine C-C motif ligand-2 (CCL2/MCP-1), chemokine C-C motif ligand-5 (CCL5/RANTES), chemokine C-C motif ligand-27 (CCL27/CTACK), chemokine C-C motif ligand-11 (CCL11/Eotaxin) and interleukin-6 (IL-6); gastrointestinal disturbances correlated with increased levels of interleukin-17 (IL-17) and reduced CCL11/Eotaxin, CCL27/CTACK and CCL2/MCP-1; while cardiac dysfunctions associate only to reduced CCL27/CTACK, and ergonomic dysfunction correlated with increased BDNF and reduced CCL11/Eotaxin and CCL5/RANTES. Thus, these 7 serum factors may provide a distinct signature for each different stress-related psychophysical outcome giving indications on individual vulnerabilities.

Keywords: Biomarkers, chemokines; Chronic stress; Growth factors; Interleukines, neurotrophic factors; Multiplex immunoassay; Psychophysical strain; Serum proteomic.