title: Interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor in cerebrospinal fluid: changes during pyrogen fever.
abstract: Several peptides (cytokines), viz., interleukin-1 (IL-1), interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), are formed in response to conditions causing tissue inflammation or damage and are implicated in reactive changes of the host, including fever, while IL-1 has been considered an important mediator of fever, the other cytokines, specifically IL-6 and TNF, have recently acquired prominence. The present study extends earlier research on IL-1 and addresses the question of the role of IL-6 and TNF in the genesis of fever. Experiments were conducted in the conscious cat, and IL-6 and TNF were assayed concomitantly in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the third ventricle using specific bioassays. In the absence of fever, IL-6 was usually below the threshold of the assay (4-32 pg/ml), while TNF appeared measurable (424 +/- 57 pg/ml) in most experiments. A single intravenous injection of endotoxin (bolus) or continuous infusion of IL-1 at doses eliciting a sustained fever increased CSF levels of IL-6, but had no effect on concentrations of TNF. Intracerebroventricular injection of a pyrogenic dose of endotoxin led to an elevation of TNF and IL-6 and, in either case, the effect was manifest during the latent period before the fever. In addition, by the same route, IL-1 caused a rise in IL-6. We conclude that brain is intrinsically capable of producing both IL-6 and TNF depending on the site of challenge. However, since IL-6 CSF levels are elevated regardless of the site of pyrogen injection, IL-6 lends itself better to a role in the pathogenesis of fever.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont., Canada.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Coceani
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lees
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mancilla
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Belizario
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Dinarello
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D002415:Cats; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000139:chemically induced; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008297:Male; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000494:pharmacology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha