Short intense psychological stress induced by skydiving does not impair intestinal barrier function

Maria Fernanda Roca Rubio, Ulrika Eriksson, Robert J Brummer, Julia König, Maria Fernanda Roca Rubio, Ulrika Eriksson, Robert J Brummer, Julia König

Abstract

Background and aim: Psychological stress has been shown to increase intestinal permeability and is associated with the development of gastrointestinal disorders. This study aimed to investigate skydiving as an alternative model to analyse the effect of acute psychological stress on intestinal barrier function.

Materials and methods: Twenty healthy subjects participated in a tandem skydive followed by a negative control visit, of which 19 (9 females and 10 males, 25.9 ± 3.7 years) were included in the study. Intestinal permeability was assessed by a multi-sugar urinary recovery test. Sucrose recovery and lactulose/rhamnose ratio in 0-5h urine indicated gastroduodenal and small intestinal permeability, respectively, and sucralose/erythritol ratio in 5-24h urine indicated colonic permeability. Blood samples were taken to assess markers associated with barrier function. This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03644979) on August 23, 2018.

Results: Skydiving resulted in a significant increase in salivary cortisol levels directly after skydiving compared to the control visit. Cortisol levels were still increased two hours after landing, while cortisol levels before skydiving were not significantly different from the baseline at the control visit. Skydiving did not induce a significant increase in gastroduodenal, small intestinal or colonic permeability. There was also no significant increase in plasma intestinal and liver fatty acid-binding proteins, suggesting no damage to the enterocytes.

Discussion: These results show that the acute intense psychological stress induced by skydiving does not affect intestinal permeability in healthy subjects. Future models aiming to investigate the effect of stress on human intestinal barrier function should consider a more sustained exposure to the psychological stressor.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1. Salivary cortisol concentrations during the…
Fig 1. Salivary cortisol concentrations during the test conditions.
Median and IQR are shown. p-values indicate significant differences between the two conditions. *p

Fig 2. Intestinal permeability at the different…

Fig 2. Intestinal permeability at the different test conditions.

(A) Gastroduodenal permeability measured by urinary…

Fig 2. Intestinal permeability at the different test conditions.
(A) Gastroduodenal permeability measured by urinary sucrose excretion (0-5h). (B) Small intestinal permeability measured by lactulose/rhamnose (L/R) ratio (0-5h). (C) Colonic permeability measured by urinary sucralose/erythritol (S/E) ratio (5h-24h). There was no significant difference among the test conditions.

Fig 3. Concentrations of other biomarkers of…

Fig 3. Concentrations of other biomarkers of intestinal barrier function at the different test conditions.

Fig 3. Concentrations of other biomarkers of intestinal barrier function at the different test conditions.
(A) Plasma concentrations of intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP). (B) Plasma concentrations of liver fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP). There was no significant difference among the test conditions. (C). (LBP). There was no significant difference among the test conditions.
Fig 2. Intestinal permeability at the different…
Fig 2. Intestinal permeability at the different test conditions.
(A) Gastroduodenal permeability measured by urinary sucrose excretion (0-5h). (B) Small intestinal permeability measured by lactulose/rhamnose (L/R) ratio (0-5h). (C) Colonic permeability measured by urinary sucralose/erythritol (S/E) ratio (5h-24h). There was no significant difference among the test conditions.
Fig 3. Concentrations of other biomarkers of…
Fig 3. Concentrations of other biomarkers of intestinal barrier function at the different test conditions.
(A) Plasma concentrations of intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP). (B) Plasma concentrations of liver fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP). There was no significant difference among the test conditions. (C). (LBP). There was no significant difference among the test conditions.

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