title: Activin A release into the circulation is an early event in systemic inflammation and precedes the release of follistatin.
abstract: Recent evidence suggests a role for activin A, and its binding protein, follistatin, in inflammatory pathways. However, whether activin is released systemically during inflammation is not known. In this study, a release of activin A into the circulation occurred in sheep within 1 hour of injection of lipopolysaccharide. This rapid peak in activin A preceded the release of the key inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6. Follistatin release into the circulation occurred some 4 hours after the peak of activin A and continued out to 24 hours from lipopolysaccharide treatment. These data are the first to document a circulatory response of activin A to an inflammatory stimulus, and together with previous findings, suggest that activin A may have both pro- and anti-inflammatory actions in regulating cytokine-driven pathways.
authors.affiliation: Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Brauman
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Groome
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: de Kretser
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Phillips
mesh_terms: D028341:Activins; D000818:Animals; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D038681:Follistatin; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood* / Q000139:chemically induced; D007265:Inhibins / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D012756:Sheep; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D038681:Follistatin; D006023:Glycoproteins; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D028341:Activins; D007265:Inhibins