Biological Connection Found Between Stress and Cardiovascular Disease

A recent study suggests that amygdalar activity can independently predict cardiovascular disease events.

Researchers performed a longitudinal study with 293 participants age 30 or over without known cardiovascular disease or active cancers. Participants underwent ¹⁸F-fluorodexoyglucose PET/CT at the Massachusetts General Hospital between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2008. Amygdalar activity, bone-marrow activity, and arterial inflammation were assessed.
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A second, separate cross-sectional study was performed, in which the relationship between perceived stress, amygdalar activity, arterial inflammation, and C-reactive protein were analyzed. Cox models, log-rank tests, and mediation (path) analyses were performed to assess the relation between amygdalar activity and cardiovascular disease.  

During the median 3.7 years follow-up, 22 of the 293 participants had a cardiovascular disease event.

In the longitudinal study, their results showed that amygdalar activity was associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, increased bone-marrow activity, and arterial inflammation, which remained significant after multivariate adjustments. The increased bone-marrow activity and arterial inflammation appeared to mediate the relationship between cardiovascular disease and amygdalar activity.

The findings from additional, separate cross-sectional study showed amgydalar activity was associated with arterial inflammation. In addition, perceived stress was associated with amygdalar activity, arterial inflammation, and C-reactive protein.

Overall, the study demonstrated that amgydalar activity was an independent and prominent risk factor in cardiovascular disease events. Amgydalar activity and perceived stress was associated with increased bone-marrow activity and arterial inflammation, which increased the risk for cardiovascular disease.

"These findings provide novel insights into the mechanism through which emotional stressors can lead to cardiovascular disease in human beings," the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Tawakol A, Ishai A, Takx RAP, et al. Relation between resting amygdalar activity and cardiovascular events: a longitudinal and cohort study [published online January 11, 2017]. The Lancet. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31714-7.