Neurobiological Effects of Work-related Adjustment Disorder

Overview

INTRODUCTION: Stress is one of the greatest burdens of our society and often imply impairments in cognitive and emotional functions. The investigators hypothesize that changes in the brain's dopamine(DA)-based mesocorticolimbic projections in patients with work-related stress (adjustment disorder) will manifest in altered glucose metabolism in relation to neural activity and altered DA radiotracer binding potential at neurotransmitter and receptor level. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Subjects and healthy controls undergo neuropsychiatric tests and PET/MR imaging with three tracers: \[18F\]FDG to measure glucose metabolism as a marker of neural activity, \[11C\]raclopride to investigate the DA binding potential in the striatum, and \[11C\]FLB 457 to study possible impaired mesocortical dopaminergic transmission. To demonstrate difference in glucose metabolism ≥2x41 patients/controls are needed. OUTCOME: The investigators expect to find that symptoms of cognitive and motivational/reward deficits could be attributable to changes in frontal lobe and striatal glucose metabolism in \>50% of patients and that changes in striatal D2 receptors and impaired mesocortical dopaminergic transmission in the prefrontal cortex are contributing factors. CONCLUSION: This project aims to generate entirely new and objective evidence of stress-induced cerebral illness and provide a basis for in depth research and more rational management of this strenuous disorder.

Recruitment procedure: The department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (DOE) at OUH have developed a screening procedure to recruit patients diagnosed according to the ICD10 F43.2x, and exposed to predominant psychosocial work stressors. The patients are recruited among women and men aged 18-64. At the DOE subjects undergo a clinical diagnostic interview based on the ICD 10 criteria including screening for stressors in the psychosocial work environment and their relationship to disease development, private life strains, personal back-ground, mental vulnerability, and competing somatic disease, as well as tests for depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Major Depression Inventory (MDI). The psychosocial work environ-ment stressors being screened for are: quantitative demands, emotional demands, role conflict, role ambiguity, sup-port and encouragement, organizational justice, adequate education and training (skill level). The experience of stressors is assessed in relation to the most dominant stress models, "demand-control-support" (Karasek), "effort and reward imbalance at work" (Siegrist), "Stress as Offense two self" (Semmer), and classical stress theory focusing on appraisal / coping (Lazarus or Ursin). The procedure is onward going to be performed automatically in an online environment. Due to the nature of neurobiology the scans must be conducted within a fairly short time period after the initial diagnosis. Hence a declaration of consent will be presented and signed at the day of the first scan, also ensuring that all additional questions can be answered by the main investigator. The scans will be conducted within a fortnight after the fists contact. In connection with the scans, the main investigator will conduct an SCAN-PSE interview for the assessment of mental symptoms to determine if the participant's condition has changed since they decided to participate in the trial. Healthy controls are recruited and matched with regard to gender, age, educational and occupational background. Further, controls are screened for confounding factors in a similar manner as the patient group.