Lessons from regular gathering of experts in stress research: focus on pathophysiological consequences of stress exposure

This issue of Stress features contributions from the 11th International Symposium on Catecholamines and Other Neurotransmitters in Stress, held in June 2015. Since 1975, the experts in stress research have been gathering every 4 years in beautiful Smolenice Castle in Slovakia. This series of symposia has become a tradition predating the fall of communism in eastern Europe, and has witnessed the rich history of truly international stress research. As in prior symposia, the 2015 meeting included presentations and posters from many (13) countries, featuring international thought leaders in the area of stress biology and medicine. In the past, symposium topics have been oriented to individual neurotransmitters, their synthesizing and degrading enzymes or receptor subtypes gene expression. Oral and poster sessions were subdivided accordingly. In 2015, the focus was shifted to the consequences, both physiological and pathological, of stress exposure as assessed in human studies as well as in animal models. Oral and poster sessions were thus devoted to the body functions affected, such as mental health, development and aging, posttraumatic stress disorder, etc. The significance of the Smolenice meeting for the future development of stress research is underscored by the fact that about one-third of the participants were PhD students and young scientists. Participation of three excellent young scientists was supported by the Irwin Kopin Award.

As can be appreciated from this issue, the symposium highlighted recent evolution and innovation in the area of stress, including expanded consideration of stress as a complicating factor in a variety of somatic disease states, such as cancer (Krizanova et al., 2016) and obesity (Vargovic et al., 2016). In addition, important new insight was offered into the role of stress in neurodegenerative processes (Chomova & Zitnanova, 2016; Kvetnansky et al., 2016), addiction (Hadad et al., 2016) and first episode schizophrenia (Havelka et al., 2016). Human clinical and rodent studies shed new light on possible biomarkers of stress-related disease (Strac et al., 2016; Tseilikman et al., 2016) and on understanding the role of experiential factors in determining stress coping. Adaptation and stress coping were also addressed in a study in students of dramatic arts, showing that neuroendocrine responses to real-life stressors in actors can partially cross-adapt with responses to psychosocial stress in a laboratory setting (Jezova et al., 2016).

Preclinical studies highlighted clear and important theoretical advances in understanding mechanisms of stress responses. Numerous presentations noted the importance of prior stress experience in determining the impact of new stressors on sensitive outcomes, such as drug reinstatement (Hadad et al., 2016), highlighting the need to incorporate consideration of context in interpretation of the impact of stress on the brain. Another resonating theme was the ability of stress-effector molecules to coordinate a diversity of stress responses via independent mechanisms, e.g., different control mechanisms for body weight and HPA axis stress responses by pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) (Jiang & Eiden, 2016), parallel activation of anxiety, and emotional responses by vasopressin (Csikota et al., 2016). Moreover, presentations highlighted the emerging recognition of the importance of classical transmitter systems (GABA, glutamate) as key coordinators in the development of stress circuitry (Balaszfi et al., 2016).

Overall, the symposium highlighted the continued vitality of stress research and its growing penetrance into contemporary biology and medicine. The studies included in this issue are good examples of the expanding breadth and scope of the stress field, fueled by seminal empirical studies that have moved stress–health linkages beyond the level of anecdote. As highlighted by the keynote speaker, George Chrousos, and the assembly of international experts, stress has entered the mainstream of scientific consciousness as a problem impacting both health research and clinical practice. Work presented at this symposium moves us ever closer to the goal of understanding basic mechanisms of stress as well as the nature of its impact on human health and well-being.