Picard 2018 Biol Psychiatry

Picard M, Prather AA, Puterman E, Cuillerier A, Coccia M, Aschbacher K, Burelle Y, Epel ES (2018) A mitochondrial health index sensitive to mood and caregiving stress. Biol Psychiatry 84:9-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.01.012

» PMID: 29525040 Open Access

Picard M, Prather AA, Puterman E, Cuillerier A, Coccia M, Aschbacher K, Burelle Y, Epel ES (2018) Biol Psychiatry

Abstract: Background: Chronic life stress, such as the stress of caregiving, can promote pathophysiology, but the underlying cellular mechanisms are not well understood. Chronic stress may induce recalibrations in mitochondria leading to changes either in mitochondrial content per cell, or in mitochondrial functional capacity (i.e., quality).

Methods: Here we present a functional index of mitochondrial health (MHI) for human leukocytes that can distinguish between these two possibilities. The MHI integrates nuclear and mitochondrial DNA-encoded respiratory chain enzymatic activities and mitochondrial DNA copy number. We then use the MHI to test the hypothesis that daily emotional states and caregiving stress influence mitochondrial function by comparing healthy mothers of a child with an autism spectrum disorder (high-stress caregivers, n = 46) with mothers of a neurotypical child (control group, n = 45).

Results: The MHI outperformed individual mitochondrial function measures. Elevated positive mood at night was associated with higher MHI, and nightly positive mood was also a mediator of the association between caregiving and MHI. Moreover, MHI was correlated to positive mood on the days preceding, but not following the blood draw, suggesting for the first time in humans that mitochondria may respond to proximate emotional states within days. Correspondingly, the caregiver group, which had higher perceived stress and lower positive and greater negative daily affect, exhibited lower MHI. This effect was not explained by a mismatch between nuclear and mitochondrial genomes.

Conclusions: Daily mood and chronic caregiving stress are associated with mitochondrial functional capacity. Mitochondrial health may represent a nexus between psychological stress and health.

• Bioblast editor: Gnaiger E

Correction: beta-Oxidation and CII ambiguity

beta-Oxidation is shown to be linked to CI (correct) and CII (wrong) in a Figure published in refs. [1,2,3,4,5]. For clarification, see ref. [6].

1. Picard M, McEwen BS (2018) Psychological stress and mitochondria: a systematic review. Psychosom Med 80:141-53. - »Bioblast link«
2. Picard M, Prather AA, Puterman E, Cuillerier A, Coccia M, Aschbacher K, Burelle Y, Epel ES (2018) A mitochondrial health index sensitive to mood and caregiving stress. Biol Psychiatry 84:9-17. - »Bioblast link«
3. Karan KR, Trumpff C, McGill MA, Thomas JE, Sturm G, Lauriola V, Sloan RP, Rohleder N, Kaufman BA, Marsland AL, Picard M (2020) Mitochondrial respiratory capacity modulates LPS-induced inflammatory signatures in human blood. Brain Behav Immun Health 5:100080. - »Bioblast link«
4. Bindra S, McGill MA, Triplett MK, Tyagi A, Thaker PH, Dahmoush L, Goodheart MJ, Ogden RT, Owusu-Ansah E, R Karan K, Cole S, Sood AK, Lutgendorf SK, Picard M (2021) Mitochondria in epithelial ovarian carcinoma exhibit abnormal phenotypes and blunted associations with biobehavioral factors. Sci Rep 11:11595. - »Bioblast link«
5. Rausser S, Trumpff C, McGill MA, Junker A, Wang W, Ho SH, Mitchell A, Karan KR, Monk C, Segerstrom SC, Reed RG, Picard M (2021) Mitochondrial phenotypes in purified human immune cell subtypes and cell mixtures. Elife 10:e70899. - »Bioblast link«
6. Gnaiger E (2023) Complex II ambiguities ― FADH₂ in the electron transfer system. MitoFit Preprints 2023.3.v6. https://doi.org/10.26124/mitofit:2023-0003.v6

Correction: FADH₂ and Complex II

FADH₂ is shown as the substrate feeding electrons into Complex II (CII). This is wrong and requires correction - for details see Gnaiger (2024).

Gnaiger E (2024) Complex II ambiguities ― FADH₂ in the electron transfer system. J Biol Chem 300:105470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105470 - »Bioblast link«

Labels: MiParea: mtDNA;mt-genetics 

Organism: Human  Tissue;cell: Blood cells 

Enzyme: Complex II;succinate dehydrogenase 

Pathway: F