Sympathetic Activation of Hepatic and Splenic IL-1β mRNA Expression during Oscillation Stress in the Rat

Abstract

Interleukin (IL)-1β mRNA expression in the liver and spleen was examined after subjection to oscillation stress in the rat. Thirty-minute subjection to oscillation stress increased IL-1β mRNA expression in the both organs. Prior treatment of rats with gadolinium chloride, which eliminates macrophages, prevented the stress-induced IL-1β expression. Either adrenalectomy or treatment of guanethidine, a blocker of norepinephrine release in the sympathetic nerve endings, partially attenuated the stress-induced response, but the combined treatment completely blocked it. Injection of β-adrenergic antagonist (propranolol) also suppressed the stress-induced response. These results suggest that oscillation stress induces IL-1β mRNA expression in the liver and spleen, probably in Kupffer cells and splenic macrophages, and that stress-induced IL-1β expression is elicited by catecholamines released from sympathetic nerve terminals and the adrenal gland.