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Examining coffee can reduce stress
Coffee or caffeine helps against chronic stress. An international research team led by Manuella Kaster from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) has found in experiments with mice that caffeine blocks certain receptors and thus relieves the stress symptoms. Their findings have been published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The international research team with the participation of the University of Bonn has shown that caffeine in adult mice causes a blockade of the adenosine receptor "A2A". This has led to a relief of stress symptoms. The animals performed better in memory tests and depressive symptoms softened compared to untreated animals, according to the announcement of the University of Bonn. Coffee could counteract the consequences of stress even in humans.
Stress in the office can be tolerated much better with coffee. (Image: Jamrooferpix / fotolia.com) Caffeine breaks through the stress spiral
Chronic stress is credited with a significant role in many mental and physical ailments. Stress makes you sick and "who is constantly annoying with colleagues, often gets disturbed in his sleep or gets set by the boss a short-term deadline after another, is getting bad mood or even depressed, can not concentrate properly or increasingly suffers from fears," reports the University of Bonn. Caffeine breaks the dangerous stress spiral and many people intuitively use this positive effect of coffee in particularly stressful situations. "Experience shows that those who are under stress usually drink more coffee or tea. Since caffeine is contained in both drinks, it is something like an own treatment of those affected ", explains co-author Prof. Dr. med. Christa E. Müller from the University of Bonn.
Mice showed relief of stress symptoms
The international research team led by Manuella Kaster has in its current study treated mice that have been suffering from stress symptoms for several weeks with caffeine or a synthetic drug that - similar to caffeine but much more potent and highly specific - adenosine A2A- Blocked receptors. The substances were administered to rodents via drinking water or food. The stressed animals then showed a clear improvement of the stress symptoms. "The rodents broke off their depressive stiffness, were less anxious, performed better in memory tests than the untreated control group and also showed in the brain metabolism normalization of the messengers and brain cells," reports the University of Bonn.
Blocked receptor in the brain
According to the researchers, blockade of the adenosine receptor A2A is responsible for alleviating the stress symptoms associated with caffeine intake. Thus, the scientists were able to show that in stress the adenosine receptor in the brain is upregulated and in this way leads to corresponding symptoms. The receptors are proteins to which very specific signal molecules bind and thereby trigger signal processes inside the living cell. "If the gene coding for the receptor A2A was muted in the mice, or if the receptor was blocked by caffeine or specific A2A inhibitors, then the symptoms resolved by the ongoing stress," continued Prof. Müller. In particular, the memory performance of the animals had improved again through the caffeine inputs. Here the researchers hope for new starting points for future therapeutic applications of caffeine.
New possibilities for stress therapy?
According to Prof. Müller, caffeine could provide a very interesting starting point for the development of novel stress therapies. Thus, not only the stress of everyday life can be better tolerated with coffee, but also a treatment of greater stress in humans, such as a post-traumatic stress disorder, with caffeine or the developed substitute may be possible. First, however, clinical studies must be performed before use in everyday medical practice is conceivable. (Fp)