TY - JOUR
T1 - Corticosterone modulates behavioral and metabolic effects of lipopolysaccharide
AU - Johnson, R. W.
AU - Propes, M. J.
AU - Shavit, Y.
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - The behavioral and neuroendocrine responses following infection are important mechanisms for maintaining homeostasis and promoting recovery. The purpose of this study was to determine if glucocorticoids modulate the behavioral and metabolic effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats. A single injection of LPS (10 μg/kg ip) increased plasma corticosterone at 4 h, but had no effect on social behavior, body temperature, or body weight. To determine if behavioral and metabolic effects of LPS were precluded by the increase in corticosterone, adrenalectomized (ADX) and sham-operated rats were injected with LPS. Whereas ADX rats expressed symptoms of sickness, intact controls did not. To verify that corticosterone was the adrenal hormone responsible for inhibiting these effects of LPS, corticosterone pellets or placebos were implanted intraperitoneally in ADX rats. Following injection of LPS, ADX rats with placebos expressed behavioral symptoms characteristic of sickness, including depressed social behavior. Corticosterone pellets, however, entirely reversed these effects in ADX rats. These results indicate that corticosterone modulates the behavioral and metabolic effects of LPS, suggesting that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is important in preventing profound behavioral disturbances in response to low-grade immune stimulation by infectious and noninfectious agents.
AB - The behavioral and neuroendocrine responses following infection are important mechanisms for maintaining homeostasis and promoting recovery. The purpose of this study was to determine if glucocorticoids modulate the behavioral and metabolic effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats. A single injection of LPS (10 μg/kg ip) increased plasma corticosterone at 4 h, but had no effect on social behavior, body temperature, or body weight. To determine if behavioral and metabolic effects of LPS were precluded by the increase in corticosterone, adrenalectomized (ADX) and sham-operated rats were injected with LPS. Whereas ADX rats expressed symptoms of sickness, intact controls did not. To verify that corticosterone was the adrenal hormone responsible for inhibiting these effects of LPS, corticosterone pellets or placebos were implanted intraperitoneally in ADX rats. Following injection of LPS, ADX rats with placebos expressed behavioral symptoms characteristic of sickness, including depressed social behavior. Corticosterone pellets, however, entirely reversed these effects in ADX rats. These results indicate that corticosterone modulates the behavioral and metabolic effects of LPS, suggesting that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is important in preventing profound behavioral disturbances in response to low-grade immune stimulation by infectious and noninfectious agents.
KW - cytokines
KW - endotoxin
KW - glucocorticoids
KW - metabolism
KW - rat
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030066646&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1152/ajpregu.1996.270.1.r192
DO - 10.1152/ajpregu.1996.270.1.r192
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C2 - 8769802
AN - SCOPUS:0030066646
SN - 0363-6119
VL - 270
SP - R192-R198
JO - American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology
JF - American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology
IS - 1 39-1
ER -