Academic stress is a problem that affects students due to a number of factors that are considered stressors. These include academic overload and completion of assignments and exams, exacerbated by such external conditions as family, social and economic problems. Together, these can affect emotional and physical health, which may lead in the long term to developing a number of pathologies, given the alteration of immunological homoeostasis with which they are related. Objective: To evaluate the effect of academic stress on the production of cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-10 in Morphology students in the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Universidad del Cauca during an academic period. Methodology: A descriptive longitudinal study was carried out with a population of 78 students studying Morphology, among the subjects with the highest academic load in the Physiotherapy, Medicine, Nursing and Phonoaudiology programs in the Faculty. Academic stress was assessed in the students by applying the Academic Stress Questionnaire (ASQ), and through quantification of the IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-10 cytokines using the ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) technique in three “moments” of the academic semester: Moment 1: beginning of the academic semester; Moment 2: week of evaluations of 70% of the semester; Moment 3: week of final exams. Results: The students perceived stress as “normal” at Moment 1, while at Moments 2 and 3 it was perceived as "quite a lot", with percentages of 48.7% and 50%, respectively. The predominant stressors were: “methodological deficiencies”, “academic overload”, and “exams”, for the three moments of the study. “Physical exhaustion” was the most prevalent stress response at all three moments, followed by “irascible behaviour” (Moment 2 and 3), and “sleep disturbances” (Moment 3). To cope with the stress, the students resorted mainly to "planning and management of personal resources" in the three moments of the study. A progressive increase in the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α and a decrease in IL-10 were observed at all three moments. A correlation was found between some questions belonging to the "methodological deficiencies", "beliefs about performance", "sleep disturbances", "physical exhaustion" and "irascible behaviour" dimensions with IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and IL. −10. Conclusion: The morphology students suffer increased stress indicators (perceived stress and pro-inflammatory cytokines) throughout the academic period. The “methodological deficiencies”, “academic overload” and “exams” stressors, together with “physical exhaustion”, “sleep disturbances” and “irascible behaviour”, possibly influence the production of the IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10 cytokines.

中文翻译：

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健康科学专业学生长期慢性学业压力及其与细胞因子失调的关系

学业压力是一个影响学生的问题，由于许多因素被认为是压力源。其中包括学业负担过重以及完成作业和考试，而家庭、社会和经济问题等外部条件又加剧了这种情况。这些因素共同影响情绪和身体健康，从长远来看，考虑到与之相关的免疫稳态的改变，可能会导致许多病理学的发展。目的：评估学业压力对考卡大学健康科学学院形态学学生在学业期间细胞因子IL-6、TNF-α、IL-1β和IL-10产生的影响。方法：对 78 名学习形态学的学生进行了一项描述性纵向研究，这些学生是学院物理治疗、医学、护理和语音听力学项目中学术负担最高的科目。通过应用学术压力问卷（ASQ），并使用 ELISA（酶联免疫吸附测定）技术对 IL-6、TNF-α、IL-1β 和 IL-10 细胞因子进行定量，对学生的学业压力进行评估。学期的三个“时刻”： 时刻1：学期开始；时刻2：学期70%的评估周；第三时刻：期末考试周。结果：学生在时刻1认为压力“正常”，而在时刻2和时刻3认为压力“很大”，比例分别为48.7%和50%。在研究的三个时刻，主要的压力源是：“方法论缺陷”、“学业负担过重”和“考试”。“身体疲惫”是这三个时刻最普遍的压力反应，其次是“暴躁行为”（时刻 2 和 3）和“睡眠障碍”（时刻 3）。为了应对压力，学生们在学习的三个时刻主要诉诸于“个人资源的规划和管理”。在所有三个时刻都观察到促炎细胞因子 IL-6 和 TNF-α 逐渐增加，而 IL-10 逐渐减少。发现一些属于“方法缺陷”、“对表现的信念”、“睡眠障碍”、“身体疲惫”和“暴躁行为”维度的问题与 IL-6、IL-1β、TNF-α 和 IL 之间存在相关性。−10。结论：形态学学生在整个学习期间承受的压力指标（感知压力和促炎细胞因子）增加。“方法论缺陷”、“学业负担过重”和“考试”压力源，以及“身体疲惫”、“睡眠障碍”和“暴躁行为”，可能会影响IL-6、TNF-α和IL-10的产生细胞因子。