Physiological adaptations to chronic stress in healthy humans – why might the sexes have evolved different energy utilisation strategies?

摘要

Key points class="unordered" style="list-style-type:disc" id="tjp7232-list-0001">The human stress response activates the autonomic nervous system and endocrine systems to increase performance during environmental challenges.This response is usually beneficial, improving the chance of overcoming environmental challenges, but costs resources such as energy.Humans and other animals are known to adapt their responses to acute stress when they are stimulated chronically, presumably to optimise resource utilisation. Characterisation of these adaptations has been limited.Using advanced imaging techniques, we show that cardiovascular and endocrine physiology, reflective of energy utilisation during acute stress, and energy storage (fat) differ between the sexes when they are exposed to chronic stress.We examine possible evolutionary explanations for these differences, related to energy use, and point out how these physiological differences could underpin known disparities between the sexes in their risk of important cardiometabolic disorders such as obesity and cardiovascular disease.