Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen manifesting virulence through diverse disease forms, ranging from acute skin infections to life-threatening bacteremia or systemic toxic shock syndromes. In the latter case, the prototypical superantigen is TSST-1 (Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin 1), encoded by tst(H), and carried on a mobile genetic element that is not present in all S. aureus strains....

BACKGROUND Staphylococcus aureus is a harmful pathogen known to express numerous virulence factors and cause severe infections. High levels of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are one of the important healthcare problems because of the inefficient treatment of these infections. OBJECTIVES The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the incidence of the toxic shoc...

The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a widely used protocol to induce stress in laboratory settings. Briefly, in the TSST, the test participant is asked to hold a speech and to do an arithmetic task in front of an audience. In the present pilot study, we examined endocrine and autonomic reactivity and habituation to repeated stress provocations using a virtual reality (VR) version of TSST. Th...

BACKGROUND Young adults born preterm at very low birth weight (VLBW, ≤1500 g) have higher levels of cardiovascular risk factors, including impaired glucose regulation, than their term-born peers. This could be mediated through altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) response to stress. OBJECTIVE To compare HPAA, glucose and insulin responses provoked by psychosocial stress in VLBW ...

BACKGROUND The definition of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) overlaps with definitions of insomnia, but there is limited knowledge about the role of insomnia in the treatment of chronic fatigue. AIMS To test if improvement of insomnia during treatment of chronic fatigue was associated with improved outcomes on 1) fatigue and 2) cortisol recovery span during a standardized stress exposure. ME...

Accumulating evidence indicates that psychotherapy participants show increased physiological responsiveness to stress. The purpose of the present study was to examine differences between individuals participating in outpatient psychotherapy and matched controls using an experimental design. Forty-two psychotherapy participants and 48 matched controls were assessed on cardiovascular and cortisol...

Sex is considered a moderating factor in the relationship between stress and cognitive performance. However, sex differences and the impact of cognitive stress appraisal on working memory performance have not received much attention. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of physiological responses (heart rate and salivary cortisol) and cognitive stress appraisal in Working Memory (W...

BACKGROUND Sugar intolerance and functional gastrointestinal disorders are both common in school age children. Both may present with similar complaints such as abdominal pain, diarrhea and bloating. Lactose, fructose and sucrose hydrogen breath tests are widely used to detect sugar malabsorption. AIM To determine the proportion of children with symptoms of functional gastrointestinal disorder...

Central endocannabinoid signaling is known to be responsive to stressful stimuli; however, there is no research to date characterizing the effects of stress on peripheral endocannabinoid content. The current study examined serum content of the endocannabinoid ligands N-arachidonylethanolamide (anandamide; AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), and the non-cannabinoid N-acyl ethanolamine (NAE) ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate enterotoxin production, enterotoxin gene distribution, and genetic diversity of Staphylococcus aureus in milk obtained from cows with subclinical mastitis. SAMPLE Milk samples obtained from 350 cows (1,354 mammary glands) on 11 Wisconsin dairy farms. PROCEDURES Of 252 S aureus isolates obtained from 146 cows, 83 isolates (from 66 cows with subclinical mastitis) were co...