Abstract

Everyday life psychosocial stressors contribute to poor health and disease vulnerabilty. Means alternative to pharmacotherapy that are able to foster stress resilience are more and more under the magnifying glass of biomedical research. The aim of this study was to test stress resilience fostering properties of the self-administration of a cosmetic product enriched with essential oils. On day 0, fourty women, 25-50 years old, self-administered both the enriched cosmetic product (ECP) and a placebo one (PCP). Then, women were randomized for daily self-administration (from day 1 to 28) of either ECP (n = 20) or PCP (n = 20). On day 29, subjects underwent a psychosocial stress test (PST). Autonomic (heart rate and its variability) and neuroendocrine (salivary cortisol) parameters were assessed both on day 0 and 29. All subjects filled a number of psychological questionnaires in order to quantify anxiety, perceived stress, and mood profile, and were videorecorded during PST for non-verbal behavior evaluation. A single application of ECP produced an acute potentiation of cardiac parasympathetic modulation, which was not observed when placebo was used. Prolonged self-administration of ECP induced: (i) a dampening of the cortisol rise produced by PST, (ii) a reduction of state anxiety, (iii) a favorable change in mood profile, and (iv) a reduction of non-verbal behavior patterns that signal anxiety, motivational conflict and avoidance. In conclusion, this study suggests that the self-administration of a cosmetic cream enriched with essential oils should be considered as a stress resilience fostering strategy due to its favorable physiological, neuroendocrine and psychological effects.

摘要

日常生活中的社会心理压力源导致健康状况恶化和疾病的易感性。在生物医学研究的放大镜下，越来越多的药物替代疗法能够增强压力适应能力。这项研究的目的是测试富含精油的化妆品自给药后的压力弹性增强特性。在第0天，有40名25至50岁的妇女同时服用了丰富的化妆品（ECP）和一种安慰剂（PCP）。然后，将女性随机分为ECP（n  = 20）或PCP（n = 20）。在第29天，受试者接受了心理社会压力测试（PST）。在第0天和第29天评估了自主性（心率及其变异性）和神经内分泌（唾液皮质醇）参数。所有受试者均填写了许多心理问卷，以量化焦虑，感知的压力和情绪状况，并在PST期间进行了录像用于非语言行为评估。ECP的单次使用可产生心脏副交感神经调节的急性增强作用，而使用安慰剂时未观察到。长时间自我管理ECP会导致：（i）抑制PST引起的皮质醇升高，（ii）减轻状态焦虑，（iii）情绪变化有利，以及（iv）减少非语言表达表示焦虑，动机冲突和回避的行为模式。结论，