title: Exposure to alcohol in utero blunts splenic sympathetic neural response to endotoxin and interleukin-1beta in the rat.
abstract: Systemic administration of endotoxin (LPS) or interleukin-1beta (IL-1) to prepubertal rats induced a marked increase in splenic but not cardiac norepinephrine (NE) turnover, an index of sympathetic neural activity. In contrast, the splenic neural response was blunted in their fetal alcohol-exposed (FAE) cohorts. Because the sympathetic outflow to lymphoid organs is considered an important immune modulator, the anomalous neural response to immune signals may partly account for the impaired cellular immunity and, thus, for the increased susceptibility to infections associated with FAE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas Medical School, Houston 77225, USA. zehavag@nba19.med.uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gottesfeld
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maier
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013154:Spleen / Q000294:innervation* / Q000378:metabolism; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D013566:Sympathomimetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004731:Endotoxins; D007375:Interleukin-1; D013566:Sympathomimetics; D000431:Ethanol; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D009638:Norepinephrine