title: Intra-amygdala microinfusion of IL-6 impairs the auditory fear conditioning of rats via JAK/STAT activation.
abstract: Though accumulating literature implicates that cytokines are involved in the pathophysiology of mental disorders, the role of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in learning and memory functions remains unresolved. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of IL-6 on amygdala-dependent fear learning. Adult Wistar rats were used along with the auditory fear conditioning test and pharmacological techniques. The data showed that infusions of IL-6, aimed at the amygdala, dose-dependently impaired the acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear. In addition, the results in the Western blot analysis confirmed that JAK/STAT was temporally activated-phosphorylated by the IL-6 treatment. Moreover, the rats were treated with JSI-124, a JAK/STAT3 inhibitor, prior to the IL-6 treatment showed a significant decrease in the IL-6 induced impairments of fear conditioning. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the learning behavior of rats in the auditory fear conditioning could be modulated by IL-6 via the amygdala. Furthermore, the JAK/STAT3 activation in the amygdala seemed to play a role in the IL-6 mediated behavioral alterations of rats in auditory fear learning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: haoyongxin0428@126.com.
authors.forename: Yongxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: 254606003@qq.com.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: 79027747@qq.com.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: 695827953@qq.com.
authors.forename: Jiaozhen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: iamqinling@icloud.com.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: yangpingtingting@163.com.
authors.forename: Pingting
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects; D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects*; D046352:Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic / Q000187:drug effects; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008845:Microinjections; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D015850:Interleukin-6; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors; D014315:Triterpenes; C038106:cucurbitacin I
keywords: Auditory; Behavioral; Cognitive dysfunction; Cytokine; Fear memory