Catherine Kelly, Marissa Cross, Alex Junker, Kris Englestad, Xiomara Rosales, Michio Hirano, Caroline Trumpff, Martin Picard
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Individuals with genetic mitochondrial diseases suffer from multisystem symptoms that vary in severity and over time, but the factors influencing disease manifestations are poorly understood. Based upon i) patient and family reports that stressful life events trigger or exacerbate symptoms, ii) biologically plausible pathways whereby psychological states and stress hormones influence mitochondrial energy production capacity, and iii) epidemiological literature linking traumatic/stressful life events and multiple neurologic disorders, we hypothesized that mitochondrial disease symptom severity may in part vary with daily mood. To examine patients' perception around potential psycho-biological mechanisms known to operate in other chronic illnesses, we administered the Stress, Health and Emotion Survey (SHES) to 70 adults with self-reported mitochondrial diseases. Participants rated how severe each of their symptom(s) was over the past year, separately for either 'good' (happy, calm) or 'bad' (stress, sad) emotional days. On average, patients reported that most symptoms were better on "good" emotional days (p < 0.0001) and worse on "bad" emotional days (p < 0.0001). Of the 29 symptoms assessed, 27 were associated with daily mood (p < 0.01). Some but not all symptoms were reported to be less or more severe on good and bad days, respectively, including fatigue, exercise intolerance, brain fog, and fine motor coordination (ps < 0.0001). These associative results suggest that on average individuals living with mitochondrial diseases perceive a connection between their mood and symptoms severity. These preliminary findings constitute an initial step towards developing more comprehensive models of the psychobiological factors that influence the course of mitochondrial diseases.
期刊介绍:
Mitochondrion is a definitive, high profile, peer-reviewed international research journal. The scope of Mitochondrion is broad, reporting on basic science of mitochondria from all organisms and from basic research to pathology and clinical aspects of mitochondrial diseases. The journal welcomes original contributions from investigators working in diverse sub-disciplines such as evolution, biophysics, biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, genetics, pharmacology, toxicology, forensic science, programmed cell death, aging, cancer and clinical features of mitochondrial diseases.