title: Role of alpha-adrenergic stimulus in stress-induced modulation of body temperature, blood glucose and innate immunity.
abstract: Mice were exposed to restraint stress for 3h. During this period, low body temperature (hypothermia, 39 degrees C-->less than 37 degrees C) and high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia, 150 mg/dl-->up to 220 mg/dl) were simultaneously induced. Reflecting a stress-induced phenomenon, blood levels of catecholamines increased at that time. Administration of adrenaline (alpha-stimulus), but neither noradrenaline (alpha but less than adrenaline) nor isoproterenol (beta), induced a similar stress-induced pattern of body temperature and blood glucose variations. This alpha-adrenergic effect was confirmed using alpha- and beta-blockers in adrenaline-induced hypothermia and hyperglycemia. By applying this alpha-stimulus, the effect on immunoparameters was then investigated. Stress-resistant lymphocyte populations were found to be NK cells, extrathymic T cells and NKT cells, especially in the liver. Functional assays showed that both NK-cell cytotoxicity and NKT-cell cytotoxicity were augmented by alpha-stimulus. These results suggest that alpha-stimulus is one of the important factors in the stress-induced phenomenon and that it eventually produces hypothermia, hyperglycemia and innate-immunity activation seen during stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Niigata University School of Medicine, Niigata, Japan.
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Chikako
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tomiyama-Miyaji
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kainuma
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Yuh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuwano
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Jiwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abo
mesh_terms: D018674:Adrenergic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D001831:Body Temperature; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007545:Isoproterenol / Q000494:pharmacology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018674:Adrenergic Antagonists; D001786:Blood Glucose; D007545:Isoproterenol; D009638:Norepinephrine; D004837:Epinephrine