AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 269, Issue 1 154-R159, Copyright © 1995 by American Physiological Society
Corticosterone regulates behavioral effects of lipopolysaccharide and interleukin-1 beta in mice
E. Goujon, P. Parnet, A. Aubert, G. Goodall and R. Dantzer
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale Unite 394, Bordeaux, France.
The modulatory role of endogenous corticoids in the behavioral effects of
lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and recombinant human interleukin-1 beta (IL-1
beta) was studied in mice. Adrenalectomy enhanced the depression of social
exploration induced by subcutaneous injection of 200 ng of IL-1 beta or 2
micrograms of LPS. This effect was mimicked by an acute injection of the
progesterone antagonist RU-38486 (0.25-1 mg). Chronic replacement with a
15-mg corticosterone pellet abrogated the enhanced susceptibility of
adrenalectomized animals to 200 ng of IL-1 beta but had only partial
protective effects on their response to 400 ng of IL-1 beta and LPS. These
results suggest that the pituitary-adrenal response to cytokines exerts an
inhibitory feedback on the cell targets that mediate the behavioral effects
of LPS and IL-1 beta.
