Circulating interleukin-6 induces fever through a STAT3-linked activation of COX-2 in the brain

Interleukin (IL)-6 is an important humoral mediator of fever following infection and inflammation and satisfies a number of criteria for a circulating pyrogen. However, evidence supporting such a role is diminished by the moderate or even absent ability of the recombinant protein to induce fever and activate the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) pathway in the brain, a prerequisite step in the initiation and maintenance of fever. In the present study, we investigated the role of endogenous circulating IL-6 in a rodent model of localized inflammation, by neutralizing its action using a specific antiserum (IL-6AS). Rats were injected with LPS (100 μg/kg) or saline into a preformed air pouch in combination with an intraperitoneal injection of either normal sheep serum or IL-6AS (1.8 ml/rat). LPS induced a febrile response, which was accompanied by a significant rise in plasma IL-6 and nuclear STAT3 translocation in endothelial cells throughout the brain 2 h after treatment, including areas surrounding the sensory circumventricular organs and the median preoptic area (MnPO), important regions in mediating fever. These responses were abolished in the presence of the IL-6AS, which also significantly inhibited the LPS-induced upregulation of mRNA expression or immunoreactivity (IR) of the inducible form of COX, the rate-limiting enzyme for PGE2-synthesis. Interestingly, nuclear signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3-positive cells colocalized with COX-2-IR, signifying that IL-6-activated cells are directly involved in PGE2 production. These observations suggest that IL-6 is an important circulating pyrogen that activates the COX-2-pathway in cerebral microvasculature, most likely through a STAT3-dependent pathway.

Growth and differentiation of cultured satellite cells from callipyge and normal lambs

We tested whether the muscle enlargement found in callipyge sheep is linked to increased proliferation, differentiation, and protein accrual of cultured satellite cells. Satellite cells were isolated from the longissimus muscle of three callipyge and three normal lambs. The satellite cells were grown using serum from horse, normal lambs, and callipyge lambs and cultured under conditions that promoted differentiation into myotubes and accumulation of myofibrillar protein. There was no difference in the population doubling times (PDT) or fusion percentages for callipyge and normal satellite cells, but PDT was longer (P < 0.05) for satellite cells grown in callipyge serum (pooled mean PDT = 22 h) than for cells grown in normal sheep serum (PDT = 20 h) or horse serum (PDT = 18 h). The protein:DNA ratios of the cultures increased during 96 h in differentiation media (P < 0.01), but there was no difference in protein:DNA ratios between cells from callipyge and normal lambs. These results suggest that muscle hypertrophy of callipyge sheep is not linked to the inherent capacity of their cultured satellite cells to proliferate, fuse or accrue protein, but hypertrophy may be linked to the influence of serum-born factors on satellite cell proliferation. Key words: Satellite cell, callipyge, sheep, cell culture

Delayed Hypoperfusion after Incomplete Forebrain Ischemia in the Rat. The Role of Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes

The role of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) in postischemic delayed hypoperfusion in the rat brain was investigated. Cerebral ischemia was accomplished by reversible bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries for 15 min combined with bleeding to an MABP of 50 mm Hg. The animals of one group were depleted of their circulating PMNLs by intraperitoneal injections of an antineutrophil serum (ANS) prior to the experiment. All animals included in this group had fewer than 0.2 × 109 circulating PMNLs/L at the start of the experiments. In another group ANS was injected intravenously for 5 min starting 2 min after the ischemic insult. After 4 min of recirculation, the number of circulating PMNLs in this group was below 10% of the normal. Control animals were injected with the same amount of normal sheep serum or were not treated at all. Sixty minutes after termination of ischemia, the local blood flow in previously ischemic cerebral structures was 40–50% of the normal as measured with the [14C]iodoantipyrine technique. In animals treated with ANS prior to the ischemic insult, the postischemic blood flow in the frontal, sensorimotor, and parietal cortex as well as caudoputamen and thalamus was significantly higher than that in non-ANS-treated animals. Treatment with ANS immediately after the ischemic period caused no improvement of the local CBF. It is concluded that PMNLs are involved in the cerebral postischemic flow derangements seen in this model. Their effects seem to be exerted during ischemia or immediately upon reinstitution of blood flow.

Effects of passive immunization with antisomatostatin serum on plasma corticosterone concentrations in young domestic cockerels

ABSTRACT Young cockerels (6–8 weeks old) were injected with serum from sheep immunized against somatostatin-14 (anti-SRIF) or normal sheep serum (NSS). Blood samples were withdrawn periodically for the determination of plasma corticosterone concentration by radioimmunoassay. With frequent (every 10 min) sampling, NSS-treated control animals exhibited increased plasma corticosterone levels, presumably as a stress response to the experimental manipulation. Anti-SRIF stimulated a much greater increase in plasma corticosterone concentrations and a peak response was observed within 10 to 20 min, when the plasma corticosterone level reached more than twice that of the corresponding control value. With less frequent sampling, plasma corticosterone increased with anti-SRIF administration to as much as nine times the corresponding control value, and the peak response occurred much later. Under pentobarbitone anaesthesia, which itself increased basal corticosterone concentrations, anti-SRIF treatment promoted further increases in plasma corticosterone levels although to a smaller magnitude compared with conscious birds. The results suggest that endogenous somatostatin may play a role in the regulation of adrenocortical function in the domestic fowl. The mechanism of response may involve a central component. J. Endocr. (1988) 116, 179–183

Physiological control of growth hormone secretion by thyrotrophin-releasing hormone in the domestic fowl

ABSTRACT Immature cockerels (4- to 5-weeks old) were passively immunized, with antiserum raised in sheep, against thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH). The administration of TRH antiserum (anti-TRH) at doses of 0·5, 1·0 or 2·0 ml/kg lowered, within 1 h, the basal concentration of plasma GH for at least 24 h. The administration of normal sheep serum had no significant effect on the GH concentration in control birds. Although the GH response to TRH (1·0 or 10·0 μg/kg) was not impaired in birds treated 1 h previously with anti-TRH, prior incubation (at 39 °C for 1 h) of TRH (20 μg/ml) with an equal volume of anti-TRH completely suppressed the stimulatory effect of TRH (10 pg/kg) on GH secretion in vivo. These results suggest that TRH is physiologically involved in the hypothalamic control of GH secretion in the domestic fowl. J. Endocr. (1985) 105, 351–355

Use of polyethylene glycol in separating bound from unbound ligand in radioimmunoassay of thyroxine.

In most rapid radioimmunoassay methods, absorbents are used that disturb the equilibrium of the ligand-antibody interaction; thus the separation process must be rigidly timed. We show here that polyethylene glycol (mol wt. 6000) abolishes this constant. We measured gamma-globulin precipitation by polyethylene glycol (150g/liter) in a thyroxine radioimmunoassay system involving use of a sheep anti-thyroxine antiserum, quantitatively and qualitatively, with either normal human serum or completely precipitated at pH 6-9 at 4 and 25 degrees C, but incompletely if salt concentration was high (1 mol/liter). Specificity of gamma-globulin precipitation increased with increasing pH and temperature. All gamma-globulin-bound thyroxine was precipitated, and also some not bound to gamma-globulin. This was taken into account by including "blank" tubes (no antibody, but with normal sheep serum) in all assays. Because this reaction is predominantly entropic and temperature independent, the entire procedure can be done at 37 degrees C and room temperature without rigid timing. The assay requires 10 mul of serum, its reproducibility is 4-8% (CV) in the euthyroid and hyperthyroid range, and its accuracy is close to 100%.

Inhibition of Injury Induced Thromboatherosclerotic Lesions by Anti-Platelet Serum in Rabbits

SummaryWe have previously shown that repeated or continuous intimal injury caused by an indwelling aortic catheter causes a variety of lesions in rabbits maintained on a diet unsupplemented by lipid. These include fatty streaks, lipid-free fibrous plaques and lipid-rich raised thromboatherosclerotic plaques. Whether lipid-rich raised lesions are a result of injury or co-existing thrombosis or both is not clear. The present experiment was designed to answer this question. Anti-platelet serum (APS) to washed sonicated rabbit platelets was raised in sheep. PE 60 polyethylene catheters were placed in the aortas of 35 rabbits by way of a femoral artery. The animals were randomly divided into 2 groups. The experimental group (17 rabbits) received an intravascular injection of 1.0 ml of APS followed 8 hours later by a subcutaneous injection of 0.5 ml. Thereafter, 0.5 ml APS was given subcutaneously each day for 13 additional days. The control group (18 rabbits) received no APS. Platelet counts were done prior to surgery, at 5 minutes following surgery, at 4 days, 8 days and just prior to killing. Extent of lesions was estimated by photographing the opened aortas, projecting the photographs on cardboard, cutting out the areas occupied by the different lesions and weighing the cardboard. The mean weight of raised lesions in the control group was 6 to 7 times greater than in the experimental groups. Statistical analysis of this difference based on Welsh‘s “t” test for unequal variances was highly significant (P<0.001). Platelet counts in the experimental group varied from 0 to 20,000 at 14 days. In animals with platelet counts ≤ 1,000 mm3 raised lesions were completely prevented. In a second experiment the effect of APS was compared with normal sheep serum (NSS). A similarly significant inhibition of raised lesions occurred in the APS group. The extent of lesions in the NSS control was similar to that in the No-APS group of the first experiment. These findings indicate that thrombosis is more important than injury in the development of lipid-rich raised lesions.

ULTRASTRUCTURAL IMMUNOCYTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF LYSOZYME IN THE PANETH CELLS OF MAN

Human lysozyme was localized immunocytochemically at the ultrastructural level within Paneth cells of man by use of the unlabeled antibody enzyme method. Specific staining for lysozyme was observed over secretion granules in the apical cytoplasm, within the region of the Golgi apparatus and within some, but not all, lysosomes. No staining was observed within the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum or other cellular organelles. In control experiments comparing semiadjacent sections of the same Paneth cell, substitution of either normal rabbit serum for rabbit antihuman lysozyme antiserum (specificity control) or normal sheep serum for sheep antirabbit immunoglobulin G antiserum (method control) completely eliminated specific staining for lysozyme. The intensity of staining for lysozyme was related to both the titer and length of exposure to antilysozyme antiserum. Specific staining was obtained in tissue embedded in Araldite or Epon and was facilitated by etching with hydrogen peroxide. No staining was observed after prolonged fixation in glutaraldehyde or treatment with uranyl acetate in block.

The Hemagglutination-inhibition Assay for Thrombopoietin

A sensitive immunoassay procedure for the detection of the thrombopoietic-stimulating factor (TSF) has been developed. This procedure is similar to the hemagglutination-inhibition (HAI) technique that is available for erythropoietin. For the production of TSF, sheep were made thrombocytopenic by the injection of antiplatelet serum. TSF from sheep sera was partially purified by column chromatography and tested for biological activity in thrombocythemic mice. A TSF-rich serum fraction was used to immunize rabbits, and the immune serum was tested for hemagglutinating antibodies. The hemagglutinating antisera were absorbed with normal sheep serum to remove antibodies not specific to TSF. The absorbed antisera containing TSF-specific antibodies were then used to detect TSF in platelet-depleted sheep sera by use of the HAI assay procedure. The data indicate that TSF can be detected and quantified in sheep serum by use of this technique.