DNA repair capacity in healthy medical students during and after exam stress.
Published
Journal Article
There has been extensive research into the effects of stress on immune function but little on the effects of stress on DNA repair capacity (DRC), a process central to maintaining a normal cell cycle. Defective DRC is one of the factors responsible for carcinogenesis. In the present study we assessed DRC in healthy medical students during times of high and low stress. Sixteen medical students were evaluated during the third day of a 5-day exam period and then again 3 weeks later, after vacation. At both time points, participants underwent a brief physical examination, had venous blood drawn, and completed questionnaires to identify subjective stress levels. The DRC was assessed by the host-cell reaction assay, which measures nucleotide excision repair capacity. Participants reported significantly higher levels of subjective stress during the exam period than after vacation. DRC was also significantly higher during the exam period than after vacation, suggesting a positive association between subject stress levels and DRC. The results are discussed in relation to previous findings and implications for cancer research.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Cohen, L; Marshall, GD; Cheng, L; Agarwal, SK; Wei, Q
Published Date
- December 2000
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 23 / 6
Start / End Page
- 531 - 544
PubMed ID
- 11199086
Pubmed Central ID
- 11199086
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0160-7715
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1023/a:1005503502992
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States