IL-1β-induced
anorexia may depend on interactions of the
cytokine with
neuropeptides and
neurotransmitters of the central nervous system control of energy balance and
serotonin is likely to be one catabolic mediator targeted by IL-1β. In the complex interplay involved in feeding modulation,
nitric oxide has been ascribed a stimulatory action, which could be of significance in counteracting IL-1β effects.The present study aims to explore the participation of the
nitric oxide and the
serotonin systems on the central mechanisms induced by IL-1β and the relevance of their putative interactions to IL-1β hypophagia in normal rats.Serotonin levels were determined in microdialysates of the ventromedial hypothalamus after a single intracerebroventricular injection of 10 ng of IL-1β , with or without the pre-injection of 20 μg of the
nitric oxide precursor
L-arginine. IL-1β significantly stimulated hypothalamic
serotonin extracellular levels, with a peak variation of 130 ± 37% above baseline. IL- 1β also reduced the 4-h and the 24-h food intakes (by 23% and 58%, respectively). The IL-1β-induced serotonergic activation was abolished by the pre-injection of
L-arginine while the hypophagic effect was unaffected.The data showed that one central effect of IL-1β is serotonergic stimulation in the ventromedial hypothalamus, an action inhibited by
nitric oxide activity. It is suggested that, although
serotonin participates in IL-1β
anorexia, other mechanisms recruited by IL-1β in normal rats are able to override the absence of the serotonergic hypophagic influence.