CC BY
35STH MULTIDISCIPLINARY INTERNATIONAL
Conference of Biological Psychiatry
«Stress and Behavior»
Proceedings of the 9th International Multidisciplinary Conference «Stress and behavior» Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 16-19 May 2005 Editor: Allan V. Kalueff, PhD
CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS
6. GENERAL QUESTIONS:
PSYCHIATRY OF STRESS
CORRELATION BETWEEN THE RATE OF ANXIETY AND THE LEVEL OF GENOME INSTABILITY OF PARTICIPANTS OF UKRAINIAN SCHOOL BIOLOGICAL OLYMPIADS
M.V. Sobol, E.S. Afanasieva, V.F. Bezrukov Taras Shevchenko National University, Kiev, Ukraine Stress is a general nonspecific reaction of organism to physical or psychical factors. Anxiety is an emotional state of fear and uncertainty in response to stressful factors. However the influence of emotional stress on the human’s genome is not yet fully investigated. The increase of genome instability (structure and numerical chromosome aberration) may be observed following stressors, also causing cancer and somatic diseases.
Methods. 184 participants of Ukrainian school biological Olympiads were studied between 2001 and 2002 as follows: 2001 (n = 84), 2002 (n = 100) and the combined group (n = 184). Two types of anxiety (personal and reactive) were evaluated by Spilberger test (low: 1—30, mild: 31—45, high: 46+). Genome instability was evaluated using micronuclei assay of buccal cells. Smears were fixed in 96% methanol for 20—30 min and Gimsa-stained. Micronuclei were scored per 1000 cells of each person.
Results and discussion. Personal anxiety is a constant characteristic of each person. The average rate of personal anxiety in the 2001 group was 43.92 (min 18, max 68, CV = 12.8%), 44.64 (min 28, max 66, CV = 10%) in the 2002 group, and 44.31 (min 18, max 68, CV = 5.6%) in the combined group, all showing mild anxiety (P > 0.05). Reactive anxiety is not a constant value; it changes depending on stress strength and general state of organism. The average rate of personal anxiety was 32 (min 7, max 62, CV = 15.5%) in the 2001, 31.17 (min 8, max 61, CV = 11.8%) in the 2002, and 31.41 (min 7, max 62, CV = 6.7%) in the combined group (all within mild anxiety scores, P>0.05). Positive correlation between personal and reactive anxiety was statistically significant. According to coefficients of variations of personal and reactive anxiety, the reactive anxiety was more variable index than personal anxiety. It was interesting to check the relation of different types of anxiety and the level of genome instability, as assessed in the micronucleus assay. Micronuclei are acentric fragments of chromosomes or whole chromosomes, which lagged behind the rest of chromosomes during mitotisis. The average frequency of micronuclei was 3.4%o (2001), 2.2%o (2002) and 2.7% (combined). The average micronuclei frequencies were within the general population limits (2—4%). Nevertheless, reduced micronuclei frequency in the 2002 vs. the 2001 groups was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Correlation between personal anxiety and genome instability for all three groups (2001, 2002 and total) was not statistically significant. For persons with high reactive anxiety (for all three groups) the correlation between anxiety and genome instability was statistically significant (r = 0.52, for 2002: 0.69; combined group: 0.73, p < 0.05).
Psychopharmacol. Biol. Narcol. 2005. Vol. 5, N 2. P. 927
Psyhopharmacology & biological narcology
ISSN 1606-8181
