With aging, the frequency of stress-related diseases increases. However, there are individual features in vulnerability and resistance to stresses and stress-related pathologies among different persons. The same stressful event can cause different symptoms, different levels of severity or even lack of symptoms in different individuals. At the same time, mechanisms, underlying individual vulnerability to stress and age-related diseases are not clear. One promising approach in this direction is to study differential responses of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in individuals that differ in stress behavior. It is known that HPA axis is a key regulator of endocrine and behavioral adaptation to stress in response to threat, but its dysfunction can contribute to the development of various stress-dependent diseases.
The HPA axis function is damaged during aging both in basal conditions (including circadian rhythms and negative feedback mechanisms) and in response to stress exposure. However, age-related disturbances of the HPA axis are not the same in different individuals and are associated with the features of the stress behavior - it is higher in individuals with anxiety and depression behavior. Epigenetic factors, as a rule, reflect the influence of the environment, primarily the impact of severe stressful life situations in childhood (early life stress). The study of the individual features of HPA axis aging, including peculiarities of age-related changes in circadian rhythms, negative feedback mechanisms, and HPA axis stress reactivity, is important to identify individuals with increased vulnerability to stress and accelerated aging, to develop a personalized approach to the prevention and treatment of stress-related age pathology.
This Research Topic focuses on age-related changes in HPA axis function, including its response to stress, circadian rhythms, and negative feedback mechanisms in individuals that differ in stress behaviour with emphasis on animals with anxiety and depression-like or aggressive behavior, and in human patients with clinically diagnosed anxiety disorders and depression, or aggression disorders compared to healthy age-matched control individuals. We also welcome studies aimed at identifying genetic and epigenetic markers of behavioral disorders and HPA axis function during aging in individuals who had early life stress. The collection also seeks to identify the phenotypes of animals and individuals with a suggestion of biomarkers of increased vulnerability to stress and age-related pathology.
Articles will be accepted pertaining to, but not limited to, the following:
1. Individual features of the age-related changes in HPA function under basal conditions and under stress;
2. Disruption of circadian rhythm of HPA axis during aging, individual features; 3. Age-related changes in the negative feedback mechanism;
4. Gender differences in age-related changes in the HPA axis function;
5. Early life stress and HPA axis function under aging; 6. The HPA axis and age-related pathology; 7. The HPA axis, genetic and epigenetic markers of vulnerability to age-related pathology.
8. The HPA axis and COVID-19 in the elderly.
9. Experimental models for studying the mechanisms of dysfunction of the HPA-axis during aging and their role in age-related pathology.
With aging, the frequency of stress-related diseases increases. However, there are individual features in vulnerability and resistance to stresses and stress-related pathologies among different persons. The same stressful event can cause different symptoms, different levels of severity or even lack of symptoms in different individuals. At the same time, mechanisms, underlying individual vulnerability to stress and age-related diseases are not clear. One promising approach in this direction is to study differential responses of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in individuals that differ in stress behavior. It is known that HPA axis is a key regulator of endocrine and behavioral adaptation to stress in response to threat, but its dysfunction can contribute to the development of various stress-dependent diseases.
The HPA axis function is damaged during aging both in basal conditions (including circadian rhythms and negative feedback mechanisms) and in response to stress exposure. However, age-related disturbances of the HPA axis are not the same in different individuals and are associated with the features of the stress behavior - it is higher in individuals with anxiety and depression behavior. Epigenetic factors, as a rule, reflect the influence of the environment, primarily the impact of severe stressful life situations in childhood (early life stress). The study of the individual features of HPA axis aging, including peculiarities of age-related changes in circadian rhythms, negative feedback mechanisms, and HPA axis stress reactivity, is important to identify individuals with increased vulnerability to stress and accelerated aging, to develop a personalized approach to the prevention and treatment of stress-related age pathology.
This Research Topic focuses on age-related changes in HPA axis function, including its response to stress, circadian rhythms, and negative feedback mechanisms in individuals that differ in stress behaviour with emphasis on animals with anxiety and depression-like or aggressive behavior, and in human patients with clinically diagnosed anxiety disorders and depression, or aggression disorders compared to healthy age-matched control individuals. We also welcome studies aimed at identifying genetic and epigenetic markers of behavioral disorders and HPA axis function during aging in individuals who had early life stress. The collection also seeks to identify the phenotypes of animals and individuals with a suggestion of biomarkers of increased vulnerability to stress and age-related pathology.
Articles will be accepted pertaining to, but not limited to, the following:
1. Individual features of the age-related changes in HPA function under basal conditions and under stress;
2. Disruption of circadian rhythm of HPA axis during aging, individual features; 3. Age-related changes in the negative feedback mechanism;
4. Gender differences in age-related changes in the HPA axis function;
5. Early life stress and HPA axis function under aging; 6. The HPA axis and age-related pathology; 7. The HPA axis, genetic and epigenetic markers of vulnerability to age-related pathology.
8. The HPA axis and COVID-19 in the elderly.
9. Experimental models for studying the mechanisms of dysfunction of the HPA-axis during aging and their role in age-related pathology.