The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is an effective psychosocial laboratory protocol for inducing stress in humans and has been used in numerous research studies. The stressor leads to a physiological response of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) and the autonomous nervous system (ANS). Common biomarkers are cortisol levels and heart rate. In addition to the physiological stress re...

Researchers interested in the neurobiology of the acute stress response in humans require a valid and reliable acute stressor that can be used under experimental conditions. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) provides such a testing platform. It induces stress by requiring participants to make an interview-style presentation, followed by a surprise mental arithmetic test, in front of an interv...

Virtual Reality Trier Social Stress Test (VR-TSST) protocols have been shown to effectively elicit psychophysiological stress by having participants perform a speech and math task while viewing virtual (non-present) audience. However, few studies utilized VR technology examine variables that would otherwise be difficult manipulate in the lab. This study examined impact of large audience (i.e., ...

Staphylococcal superantigens (sAgs), such as toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1), induce massive cytokine production, which may result in toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and sepsis. Recently, we reported that in vitro studies in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) do not reflect the immunological situation of the host, because after exposure to superantigens (sAgs) in vivo, mononuclear...

To determine whether human CD4+ T cells undergo post-thymic maturation, we compared the susceptibility to anergy induction in human thymic CD1a- CD4+ single-positive (CD4+), cord blood (CB) CD4+, and adult peripheral blood (APB) CD4+ T cells by stimulation with toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1). Most TSST-1-induced T cell blasts derived from either T cell preparation expressed TCR Vbeta2, w...

The influence of 17 commercially available tampons on production of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) by Staphylococcus aureus was investigated by using a tampon disk method. Filter membranes overlaying agar medium (with or without blood) in small petri dishes were spread inoculated with a TSST-1-producing strain of S. aureus. Disks cut from unrolled tampons were pressed and laid on the ino...

The production of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) by Staphylococcus aureus MN8 exposed to a range of oxygen concentrations (0 to 21% [vol/vol]) was examined in batch and thin-film cultures. The response of S. aureus to this range of oxygen concentrations was studied in the absence and in the presence of 7% (vol/vol) carbon dioxide. In the absence of carbon dioxide, TSST-1 production in ba...

Failure of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to habituate to repeated stress exposure is related with adverse health outcomes, but our knowledge of predictors of non-habituation is limited. Rumination, defined as repetitive and unwanted past-centered negative thinking, is related with exaggerated HPA axis stress responses and poor health outcomes. The aim of this study was to test w...