STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL VARIATIONS IN POPULATION GROUPS UNDERGOING ACUTE OR CHRONIC STRESS

Objective: Stress arises from derangements of personal and professional activities. The basic reason is changes in lifestyle and psychosocial adaptations. Life becomes demanding, complicated, mechanical, and devoid of health. In today’s modern world, occupational stress has become the major factor for loss of health and peacefulness of mind. Methods: This is an observational descriptive study which was conducted in a group of 84 people between 25 and 60 years of age to study the association of acute stress on salivary amylase level and effect of chronic stress on lipid profile, glycosylated hemoglobin and certain inflammatory markers in people representing different forms of stress. Three groups of the population were studied. Group 1 (n=20) - Patients undergoing any elective surgery (abdominal/genitourinary) or an invasive diagnostic procedure (upper GI endoscopy, lymph node biopsy) Group 2 (n=32) – High/middle socio-economic male or female working for ≥8 h/day with or without stress. Group 3 (n=32) – Low socioeconomic male or female earning <100 Rs/day with or without stress. Salivary alpha-amylase and chromogranin A (CgA) levels are good markers of stress. Results: There was increased levels of cortisol (p<0.0001), alpha amylase (p<0.01), and decreased levels of CgA (p<0.001) pre-procedure period as a marker of acute stress. In the chronic stress group of low income as well as high-income status, glycosylated hemoglobin, and blood lipid profile in both males and females were significantly deranged. Plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-2 were significantly raised in both groups. Serum ferritin level was low in the low socioeconomic group but normal in the high socioeconomic group. Conclusion: Salivary amylase level was raised in acute stress and there is a direct correlation of chronic stress with high low-density lipoprotein/ high-density lipoprotein ratio, raised glycosylated Hemoglobin, serum MDA, IL-1, 2 levels irrespective of economic group.