Emotional intelligence, emotional labor, and job satisfaction among physicians in Greece

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that psychological constructs, such as emotional intelligence and emotional labor, play an important role in various organizational outcomes in service sector. Recently, in the “emotionally charged” healthcare field, emotional intelligence and emotional labor have both emerged as research tools, rather than just as theoretical concepts, influencing various organizational parameters including job satisfaction. The present study aimed at investigating the relationships, direct and/or indirect, between emotional intelligence, the surface acting component of emotional labor, and job satisfaction in medical staff working in tertiary healthcare. METHODS: Data were collected from 130 physicians in Greece, who completed a series of self-report questionnaires including: a) the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, which assessed the four dimensions of emotional intelligence, i.e. Self-Emotion Appraisal, Others’ Emotion Appraisal, Use of Emotion, and Regulation of Emotion, b) the General Index of Job Satisfaction, and c) the Dutch Questionnaire on Emotional Labor (surface acting component). RESULTS: Emotional intelligence (Use of Emotion dimension) was significantly and positively correlated with job satisfaction (r=.42, p<.001), whereas a significant negative correlation between surface acting and job satisfaction was observed (r=−.39, p<.001). Furthermore, Self-Emotion Appraisal was negatively correlated with surface acting (r=−.20, p<.01). Self-Emotion Appraisal was found to influence job satisfaction both directly and indirectly through surface acting, while this indirect effect was moderated by gender. Apart from its mediating role, surface acting was also a moderator of the emotional intelligence-job satisfaction relationship. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that surface acting could predict job satisfaction over and above emotional intelligence dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study may contribute to the better understanding of emotion-related parameters that affect the work process with a view to increasing the quality of service in the health sector

Adiponectin-Mediated Analgesia and AntiInflammatory Effects in Rat

The adipose tissue-derived protein, adiponectin, has significant anti-inflammatory properties in a variety of disease conditions. Recent evidence that adiponectin and its receptors (AdipoR1 and AdipoR2) are expressed in central nervous system, suggests that it may also have a central modulatory role in pain and inflammation. This study set out to investigate the effects of exogenously applied recombinant adiponectin (via intrathecal and intraplantar routes; 10–5000 ng) on the development of peripheral inflammation (paw oedema) and pain hypersensitivity in the rat carrageenan model of inflammation. Expression of adiponectin, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 mRNA and protein was characterised in dorsal spinal cord using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blotting. AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 mRNA and protein were found to be constitutively expressed in dorsal spinal cord, but no change in mRNA expression levels was detected in response to carrageenan-induced inflammation. Adiponectin mRNA, but not protein, was detected in dorsal spinal cord, although levels were very low. Intrathecal administration of adiponectin, both pre- and 3 hours post-carrageenan, significantly attenuated thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical hypersensitivity. Intrathecal administration of adiponectin post-carrageenan also reduced peripheral inflammation. Intraplantar administration of adiponectin pre-carrageenan dose-dependently reduced thermal hyperalgesia but had no effect on mechanical hypersensitivity and peripheral inflammation. These results show that adiponectin functions both peripherally and centrally at the spinal cord level, likely through activation of AdipoRs to modulate pain and peripheral inflammation. These data suggest that adiponectin receptors may be a novel therapeutic target for pain modulation

CNS targets of adipokines

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Physiological Society via the DOI in this record.Our understanding of adipose tissue as an endocrine organ has been transformed over the last twenty years. During this time a number of adipocyte-derived factors or adipokines have been identified. This paper will review evidence for how adipokines acting via the central nervous system (CNS) regulate normal physiology and disease pathology. The reported CNS-mediated effects of adipokines are varied and include the regulation of energy homeostasis, autonomic nervous system activity, the reproductive axis, neurodevelopment, cardiovascular function, and cognition. Due to the wealth of information available and the diversity of their known functions, the archetypal adipokines leptin and adiponectin will be the focused on extensively. Other adipokines with established CNS actions will also be discussed. Due to the difficulties associated with studying CNS function on a molecular level in humans, the majority of our knowledge, and as such the studies described in this paper, comes from work in experimental animal models; however, where possible the relevant data from human studies are also highlighted

Studying the influence of the adipocytokine adiponectin on the central nervous system

Adiponectin and its receptors, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, constitute integral components of energy homeostatic mechanism, in peripheral tissues. Recent studies have implicated adiponectin in central neural networks regulating food intake and energy expenditure. The present study aimed at investigating the possible expression and distribution of adiponectin and its receptors in human pituitary gland, hypothalamus and different brain areas. Sections of the pituitary gland, hypothalamus and adjacent basal forebrain area, cerebrum and cerebellum from forty autopsy cases, were examined using H&E, PAS-Orange G, luxol fast blue/cresyl violet stains and single and double immunohistochemistry using adiponectin, AdipoR1, AdipoR2, choline acetyltransferase, FSH, LH, TSH, GH, ACTH and prolactinspecific antibodies. Age and BMI mean values ±SD of the autopsy cases were 56±18 years and 27±5 kg/m², respectively. Strong adiponectin expression was observed in pituitary gland. In pars distalis (PD), adiponectin localized in GH, FSH, LH and TSH-producing cells and in pars tuberalis (PT) in FSH, LH and TSH-producing cells. Strong to moderate expression of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 was observed in PD by the same cell types as adiponectin. No immunoreactivity for adiponectin receptors was noted in cells of PT. Intense AdipoR1 immunostaining was observed in neurons of lateral hypothalamic area and of nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM). Adiponectin and its receptors expression in human pituitary might indicate the existence of a local system, modulating endocrine axes. Furthermore, the presence of AdipoR1 in hypothalamus and NBM suggests that adiponectin may participate in central neural signaling pathways controlling energy homeostasis and higher brain functions.Η αντιπονεκτίνη και οι υποδοχείς αντιπονεκτίνης, AdipoR1 και AdipoR2, αποτελούν συστατικά στοιχεία των ενεργειακών ομοιοστατικών μηχανισμών στους περιφερικούς ιστούς. Σύμφωνα με πρόσφατες μελέτες, η αντιπονεκτίνη φαίνεται, επιδρώντας σε κεντρικά νευρωνικά κυκλώματα, να συμμετέχει στη ρύθμισης πρόσληψης τροφής και κατανάλωσης ενέργειας. Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης ήταν η διερεύνηση της πιθανής έκφρασης και της κατανομής της αντιπονεκτίνης και των υποδοχέων της στην ανθρώπινη υπόφυση, στον υποθάλαμο και σε άλλες περιοχές του ανθρώπινου εγκεφάλου. Τομές υπόφυσης, υποθαλάμου και της παρακείμενης βασικής τηλεγκεφαλικής περιοχής, εγκεφαλικού φλοιού και παρεγκεφαλίδας μονιμοποιημένες σε ουδέτερη φορμόλη και εγκλεισμένες σε παραφίνη, από σαράντα περιστατικά, μελετήθηκαν ιστολογικά με τη χρήση ηωσίνης-αιματοξυλίνης, και των ειδικών χρώσεων PAS-orange G και luxol fast blue-cresyl violet. Εν συνεχεία, εφαρμόσθηκε απλή και διπλή ανοσοϊστοχημική μέθοδος, χρησιμοποιώντας ειδικά αντισώματα έναντι της αντιπονεκτίνης, του AdipoR1 και AdipoR2, της ακετυλομεταφοράσης της χολίνης, της FSH, LH, TSH, GH, ACTH και προλακτίνης. Ο μέσος όρος (±SD) ηλικίας και δείκτη μάζας σώματος (ΒΜΙ) των υπό εξέταση περιπτώσεων ήταν 56 (±18) έτη και 27 (±5) kg/m², αντίστοιχα. Έντονη έκφραση της αντιπονεκτίνης παρατηρήθηκε στον πρόσθιο λοβό (pars distalis/PD) της υπόφυσης και στο χοανικό δακτύλιο (pars tuberalis/PT). Ειδικότερα, ισχυρή ανοσοϊστοχημική χρώση για την αντιπονεκτίνη παρατηρήθηκε στα κύτταρα που παράγουν GH, FSH, LH , TSH και FSH, LH, TSH, στον πρόσθιο λοβό και στο χοανικό δακτύλιο αντίστοιχα.. Στο PD, ισχυρή έως μέτρια έκφραση του AdipoR1 και AdipoR2 ανιχνεύθηκε στους ίδιους κυτταρικούς τύπους στους οποίους εντοπίσθηκε και η αντιπονεκτίνη. Δεν παρατηρήθηκε ανοσοθετικότητα για τους υποδοχείς της αντιπονεκτίνης στα κύτταρα του ΡT. Έντονη ανοσοϊστοχημική χρώση για τον AdipoR1 παρουσίασαν οι νευρώνες της πλάγιας υποθαλαμικής περιοχής και του βασικού πυρήνα του Meynert (NBM). Η έκφραση της αντιπονεκτίνης και των υποδοχέων της στην ανθρώπινη υπόφυση ενδεχομένως αποτελεί μία ένδειξη της ύπαρξης ενός τοπικού ρυθμιστικού συστήματος, το οποίο ασκεί τροποποιητικές δράσεις στους ενδοκρινικούς άξονες. Επιπρόσθετα, η παρουσία του AdipoR1 στον υποθάλαμο και στο NBM υποδεικνύει ότι η αντιπονεκτίνη μπορεί να συμμετέχει σε κεντρικά νευρωνικά σηματοδοτικά μονοπάτια, ελέγχοντας την ενεργειακή ομοιόσταση και άλλες εγκεφαλικές λειτουργίες

Evaluating the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of incretin-based treatments for hypothalamic obesity: A narrative review.

Hypothalamic obesity represents a clinical condition within the broader spectrum of obesity that frequently eludes detection and appropriate diagnosis. This subset of obesity is characterized by a dearth of established predictive markers and a paucity of standardized therapeutic protocols. The advent and rising prominence of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists in the obesity treatment landscape present novel therapeutic avenues for hypothalamic obesity management. Nonetheless, critical inquiries persist concerning the efficacy of GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists in this context, particularly regarding their central mechanisms of action and specific impact on hypothalamic obesity. In this narrative review, we concentrate on analyzing research papers that delineate the detection and function of GLP-1 receptors across various hypothalamic and cerebral regions. Additionally, we examine clinical research papers and reports detailing the application of GLP-1 receptor agonists in treating hypothalamic obesity. Furthermore, we include a concise presentation of a clinical case from our unit for contextual understanding. Currently, the clinical evidence supporting the efficacy of GLP-1 receptor agonists in hypothalamic obesity, as well as the diverse characteristics of this obesity subtype, remains insufficient. Preliminary data suggest that GLP-1R agonists might offer an effective treatment option, albeit with variable outcomes, particularly in younger patient cohorts. From a mechanistic perspective, the presence of GLP-1 receptors in various hypothalamic and broader brain regions potentially underpins the efficacy of GLP-1R agonists, even in instances of hypothalamic damage. Nevertheless, additional research is imperative to establish the functional relevance of these receptors in said brain regions. GLP-1R agonists represent a potential therapeutic option for patients with hypothalamic obesity. However, further clinical and basic/translational research is essential to validate the efficacy of these drugs across different presentations of hypothalamic obesity and to understand the functionality of GLP-1R in the diverse brain regions where they are expressed