Stress-induced brain responses are associated with BMI in women

Overweight and obesity are associated with altered stress reactivity and increased inflammation. However, it is not known whether stress-induced changes in brain function scale with BMI and if such associations are driven by peripheral cytokines. Here, we investigate multimodal stress responses in a...

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Published inCommunications biology Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 1031
Main Authors Kühnel, Anne, Hagenberg, Jonas, Knauer-Arloth, Janine, Ködel, Maik, Czisch, Michael, Sämann, Philipp G., Binder, Elisabeth B., Kroemer, Nils B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 11.10.2023
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
59/36
631/378/1831
631/378/371
Biology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Body mass index
Body weight
Cytokines
Emotions
Energy metabolism
Females
Inflammation
Life Sciences
Neural networks
Stress response
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Summary:Overweight and obesity are associated with altered stress reactivity and increased inflammation. However, it is not known whether stress-induced changes in brain function scale with BMI and if such associations are driven by peripheral cytokines. Here, we investigate multimodal stress responses in a large transdiagnostic sample using predictive modeling based on spatio-temporal profiles of stress-induced changes in activation and functional connectivity. BMI is associated with increased brain responses as well as greater negative affect after stress and individual response profiles are associated with BMI in females ( p perm  < 0.001), but not males. Although stress-induced changes reflecting BMI are associated with baseline cortisol, there is no robust association with peripheral cytokines. To conclude, alterations in body weight and energy metabolism might scale acute brain responses to stress more strongly in females compared to males, echoing observational studies. Our findings highlight sex-dependent associations of stress with differences in endocrine markers, largely independent of peripheral inflammation. In humans, brain responses to stress are associated with their body mass index, driven mostly by females. Predictive modeling showed that this link was better explained by changes in endocrine instead of immune systems.
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ISSN:2399-3642
2399-3642
DOI:10.1038/s42003-023-05396-8