BACKGROUND Under stressful conditions such as in an emergency situation, efficient information processing is essential for reasonable responses. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Virtual Reality (VR) technology is used to induce stress and to test three main cognitive functions for decision making in stressful situations. METHODS A VR task was developed to induce stress following the Trier Social Stress...

Toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1), produced by Staphylococcus aureus (including methicillin-resistant S. aureus), is a superantigenic toxin responsible for toxic shock syndrome as well as neonatal TSS-like exanthematous disease. TSST-1 exhibits its deleterious effects by leading to the abnormal proliferation of, e.g., Vbeta2+ T cells and overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines. In the p...

BACKGROUND Cortisol is an essential hormone in the regulation of the stress response along the HPA axis, and salivary cortisol has been used as a measure of free circulating cortisol levels. Recently, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) has also emerged as a novel biomarker for psychosocial stress responsiveness within the sympathetic adrenomedullary (SAM) system. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We measured sAA ...

Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis (IE) is a fast-progressing and tissue destructive infection of the cardiac endothelium. The superantigens (SAgs) toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), staphylococcal enterotoxin C (SEC), and the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc) play a novel and essential role in the etiology of S. aureus IE. Recent studies indicate that SAgs act at the infection site ...

The ability of staphylococcal strains isolated from different anatomical sites in 133 healthy goats to produce toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) and the presence of antibodies to this toxin in serum and milk were studied. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used to detect both the toxin and the presence of antibodies. Of a total of 342 staphylococcal strains studied, 86 (25.2%)...

This article demonstrates a psychological stress protocol for use in a laboratory setting. Protocols that allow researchers to study the biological pathways of the stress response in health and disease are fundamental to the progress of research in stress and anxiety. Although numerous protocols exist for inducing stress response in the laboratory, many neglect to provide a naturalistic context...

Staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) is the major cause of toxic shock syndrome and is important in the pathophysiology of staphylococcal septic shock. Our study about the biological effects of TSST-1 in the rabbit 3 and 6 h and 7 days postinjection provides evidence that TSST-1 induces leukopenia, lymphopenia, and monocytopenia as a result of extravasation of cells in a Vss-unr...

The effect of O(2) and CO(2) on expression of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) by Staphylococcus aureus was investigated under controlled growth conditions with continuous-culture techniques. To stimulate TSST-1 production, air and anaerobic gas were premixed before delivery to the culture vessel. At a growth rate-or mass doubling time (t(d))-of 3 h, production of specific TSST-1 (expresse...

OBJECTIVE The aim of study was to develop a rapid assay, dye labelled monoclonal antibody assay (DLMAA), using non-radioactive organic synthetic dyes for identification of Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 (TSST-1) producing strains of Staphylococcus aureus. MATERIALS AND METHODS The assay protocol required only two simple steps; addition of TSST-1 antigen to a nitrocellulose membrane and then add...