Role of alpha-adrenergic stimulus in stress-induced modulation of body temperature, blood glucose and innate immunity.
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.
Watanabe
Mayumi
M
Department of Immunology, Niigata University School of Medicine, Niigata, Japan.
Tomiyama-Miyaji
Chikako
C
Kainuma
Eisuke
E
Inoue
Masashi
M
Kuwano
Yuh
Y
Ren
Hongwei
H
Shen
Jiwei
J
Abo
Toru
T
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*
D018674:Adrenergic Antagonists; D001786:Blood Glucose; D007545:Isoproterenol; D009638:Norepinephrine; D004837:Epinephrine