In situ hybridization analysis of the induction of interleukin-1beta mRNA by methamphetamine in the rat hypothalamus.
The induction of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) mRNA in the rat hypothalamus by systemic treatment with methamphetamine was studied using in situ hybridization. IL-1beta mRNA was expressed throughout the hypothalamus of methamphetamine-treated rats with no apparent signals in that of untreated rats; it was expressed in the paraventricular and periventricular hypothalamic nuclei, medial and lateral preoptic areas, lateral hypothalamic area, suprachiasmatic nucleus, dorsomedial and ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei, premammillary and supramammillary nucleus, median eminence, and arcuate nucleus. The amygdala and paraventricular thalamic nucleus also showed the expression of IL-1beta mRNA. The induction of IL-1beta mRNA in these areas was suppressed by the beta-blocker propranolol (0.1 mg/kg, ip). IL-1beta mRNA-expressing cells were scattered in the hypothalamus and their counterstained profile was dense and small (5-8 mum) findings that suggest glial cells rather than neurons. The present results indicate that IL-1beta mRNA is widely expressed throughout the hypothalamus via beta-adrenoceptors, maybe in glial cells, following the treatment with methamphetamine and that IL-1beta might be involved in various hypothalamic functions induced by methamphetamine.
Yamaguchi
T
T
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-01, Japan.
Kuraishi
Y
Y
Yabuuchi
K
K
Minami
M
M
Satoh
M
M