JOURNALOF PHYSIOLOGYAND PHARMACOLOGY2011, 62, 6, 591-599
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INTRODUCTION
Stress is a ubiquitous condition that affects all people.According to a definition given by H. Selye, stress is defined asan acute threat to the homeostasis of an organism. It may be real(physical) or perceived (psychological) and posed by events inthe outside world or from within. Importantly, stress evokesadaptive responses that serve to defend the stability of the internalenvironment and to ensure the survival of the organism (1).
The gastrointestinal tract and the immune system areparticularly responsive to different stressors. In the past years theinfluence of psychosocial and environmental stressors on thepathogenesis of the gastrointestinal diseases has receivedfunctions of the gastrointestinal tract including gastric secretion,gut motility, mucosal permeability and barrier function, visceralsensitivity and mucosal blood flow (3-5) (Fig. 1). In recent yearsthe important interplay between stress and gut microbiota hasbeen shown. Interestingly, bacteria may respond directly tostress-related host signals. There is evidence that catecholaminescan alter the growth, motility and virulence of pathogenic andcommensal bacteria. Thereby, stress may influence the outcomeof infections by these bacteria in many hosts (6).
This article reviews the impact of stress on thegastrointestinal tract. Especially the focus is addressed to therole of stress in the pathophysiology of the most commondiseases of the gastrointestinal tract and to the diagnostic and