Psychological stress increases bilirubin metabolites in human urine

doi:10.1016/S0006-291X(02)00233-4

Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

Volume 293, Issue 1, 26 April 2002, Pages 517-520

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-291X(02)00233-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

Some authors have suggested that psychological stress induces the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Some studies have supported that bilirubin exerts anti-oxidative effects in vivo. However, it is not known whether ROS induced by psychological stress provoke bilirubin oxidation in vivo. We investigated if the concentration of bilirubin oxidative metabolite (BOM), a bilirubin oxidative metabolite, increased in urine from subjects exposed to psychological stress. Sixty healthy male volunteers working in a pharmaceutical company were divided into a Group I which did not attend a conference, a Group II which attended a conference but did not deliver a speech, and a Group III which attended a conference and delivered speeches in the presence of the company executives. Subjective stress was scored (self-rating score) after subjects in Group III delivered their speeches at the conference. Urine was collected on the next day. The BOM concentrations, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, were normalized to the urinary concentration of creatinine. The concentration of BOM in Group III was significantly higher compared to that in Groups I and II (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). Furthermore, in Group III, the concentration of BOM correlated with the self-rating stress score (r=0.53, p<0.01). These findings suggest that emotional stimuli are associated with an increase in the oxidative metabolites of bilirubin in human urine, and that BOMs could be useful markers of psychological stress.

Section snippets

Subjects and experimental design

Speech stress. Sixty healthy male volunteers from a pharmaceutical company, 36–50 years old (mean ±SD=41.5±3.1 years) participated in the experiment. They were classified into a Group III consisting of subjects (N=32) who had to deliver a speech, of about 30 min, on how they would further develop their company. The company executives evaluated both the gist of the speech and the answers to their questions after each speech; a Group II of subjects (N=19) who attended the conference but did not

Results and discussion

Since in the preliminary experiment we observed that the concentration of BOM increased on the day after a speech was delivered at a conference, we subjected the volunteers (N=32, Group III) to the same stimulus, that is, a speech on a special theme and determined the concentration of BOMs in urine on the following day to confirm the effects of such stressful situation.

The concentration of BOMs in Group III (relative value=1.7) was significantly higher than that in Group II (relative value=1.5;

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Masataka Ara, Shinya Sasaki, and Hajime Yoshimura for their excellent technical assistance.

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^☆: Abbreviations: 8-OH-dG, 8-hydroxy-2^′-deoxyguanosine; ROS, reactive oxygen species; BOM, bilirubin oxidative metabolite; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; CMI, Cornell Medical Index; SDS, Self-rating Depression Scale; HO, hemeoxygenase; IQR, interquartile range.

¹: T. Yamaguchi and I. Shioji wrote the paper and equally contributed to this study as a whole.

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Psychological stress increases bilirubin metabolites in human urine☆

Abstract

Section snippets

Subjects and experimental design

Results and discussion

Acknowledgements

Neurosci. Lett.

J. Biol. Chem.

J. Biol. Chem.

Biochim. Biophys. Acta

Biochim. Biophys. Acta

J. Biol. Chem.

J. Surg. Res.

Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.

Neurobiol. Aging

J. Biol. Chem.

Oxidative damage of nuclear DNA in liver of rats exposed to psychological stress

Cancer Res.

Insertion of specific bases during DNA synthesis past the oxidation damaged base 8-oxodG

Nature

Alterations in magnesium and oxidative status during chronic emotional stress

Magnes. Res.

Immobilization stress causes oxidative damage to lipid, protein and DNA in the brain of rats

FASEB J.

Involvement of the brain noradrenarine system in emotional changes caused by stress in rats

Ann. NY Acad. Sci.

Abnormal catecholamine urinary excretion after emotiomal stimulus in patients with cerebral hemorrhage

Storoke

Tracking cholinergic pathways from psycholigical and chemical stressors to variable neurodeterioration paradigms

Curr. Opin. Neurol.