Immune system activation is often accompanied by alterations in the reproductive axis. Interleukin-1 (IL-1), a polypeptide cytokine, has been postulated as a chemical messenger between the immune and the neuroendocrine systems. Using superfused hypothalamic fragments explanted from intact male rats, we evaluated the effects of IL-1 (0.5 and 5 nM) on basal and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-stimulated release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), and the associated modifications in the output of inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitters involved in the control of GnRH secretion. IL-1 did not modify basal GnRH release, but markedly restrained the stimulatory effect of NMDA on GnRH secretion. γ-Aminobutyric acid, glycine and taurine concentrations significantly increased in the superfusion medium only after pretreatment with the higher dose of IL-1 (p < 0.05). Our results indicate that this cytokine inhibits NMDA- stimulated GnRH release, affecting the activity and/or the release of hypothalamic excitatory and inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitters participating in the regulation of GnRH secretion.

Keywords:
Interleukin-1, GnRH, NMDA, GABA, Glycine, Taurine, Rats
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© 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel
1999
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