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About the Authors:
Travis J. A. Craddock
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliations Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America, Graduate School for Computer and Information Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America, Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America
Paul Fritsch
Affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Mark A. Rice Jr
Affiliation: Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America
Ryan M. del Rosario
Affiliation: Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America
Diane B. Miller
Affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
Mary Ann Fletcher
Affiliation: Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America
Nancy G. Klimas
Affiliations Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America
Gordon Broderick
Affiliations Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America, Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America
Introduction
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a key component in the body's stress response, serves to articulate changes in a broad range of homeostatic regulators as a function of environmental cues. Such cues can consist of both physical stressors (injury, infection, thermal exposure) and psycho-emotional stressors (frustration, fear, fight or flight decisions). Instantiation of this survival program is accomplished through controlled modulation of the neuroendocrine and immune systems, as well as the sympathetic nervous systems [1]–[3]. Considering its function as a broad-reaching integrator of major physiological systems, it is no surprise that numerous chronic conditions have been associated with abnormal regulation of the HPA axis, including major depressive disorder (MDD) [4], [5], post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [6]–[8], Alzheimer's disease [9], Gulf War Illness (GWI) [10]–[12], and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) [13]–[15]....