The response of circulating brain natriuretic peptide to academic stress in college students

Stress Replacement Article

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a peptide known to control cardiovascular and body fluid homeostasis.  Researchers believe that BNP is also involved in the regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) responses to psychological stressors.  When stressors are present, the body reacts by activating the HPA system and the end result is secretion of the stress hormone cortisol from the adrenal cortex.  In this study, researchers hypothesized that BNP would suppress the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone, which would in turn affect the secretion of cortisol.  For this study, they used a sample of 170 healthy physical education college students.  The students were tested twice.  The first time, they were tested 15-30 minutes before an exam.  The second time, they were tested 15-30 minutes during a time away from school work.  They had the students indicate their stress levels by using a scale of 1-10, 1 being not stressed at all and 10 being extremely stressed.  The researchers also recorded heart rates and blood pressure before the examination.  In addition, they took blood samples.  Cortisol levels were very different between males and females, so each gender's data was examined separately.  Researchers recorded higher blood pressure and heart rates on the day of the examination.  There was also a greater concentration of cortisol on examination day.  However, there was a smaller concentration of NT-proBNP (a fragment of BNP precursor) on examination day than on the control day.  These findings indicate the possibility that mechanisms involving HPA regulation in response to stress cause reductions in NT-proBNP which leads to increased levels of cortisol.  This means that there could be an interaction between the HPA axis and the peripheral natriuretic peptides system when dealing with mental stress.



AMIR, O., SAGIV, M., EYNON, N., YAMIN, C., ROGOWSKI, O., GERZY, Y., & AMIR, R. E. (2010). The response of circulating brain natriuretic peptide to academic stress in college students. Stress: The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, 13(1), 83-90. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. doi:10.3109/10253890902818357