Associations between high perceived stress, inflammatory proteins, and BDNF: a cross-sectional study of young adult females in Shanghai, China

Psychological stress accelerates aging, increasing morbidity and mortality risks, though the mechanisms behind this relationship are still under investigation. This cross-sectional study explored the link between perceived stress and blood protein profiles by recruiting healthy female subjects (aged 18-35) stratified into high (HS) and low (LS) perceived stress groups according to self-reported subjective questionnaires in Shanghai, China. The HS group displayed a higher tendency of neuroticism along with depression, anxiety, and emotional volatility. The exploratory proteomic analysis of blood samples was performed, evaluating 92 inflammation/immune related proteins using the Olink high-throughput platform. Concurrently, targeted analysis of pre-specified stress-related neurological biomarkers including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and oxytocin were performed using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results demonstrated that the HS group displayed elevated levels of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1, log2FC = 0.565) and sirtuin 2 (SIRT2, log2FC = 0.383). Age-segregated analysis (early young adult (EYA), 18-25 years old; middle young adult (MYA), 25-30 years old; late young adult (LYA), 30-35 years old) revealed that BDNF was decreased in the LYA group and demonstrated a moderate negative correlation with 4E-BP1 and SIRT2. Cytokines interleukin-8 (IL-8) and IL-10 were also significantly elevated in the LYA group. These findings indicated that Chinese, young women with HS exhibit distinct inflammatory profiles and reduced BDNF levels, suggesting that chronic stress may be associated with increased inflammation and compromised neuronal plasticity, highlighting the need for future longitudinal studies to clarify the long-term impact of stress on mental wellbeing.