Complementary anti-inflammatory actions of the β2-adrenoceptor agonist clenbuterol and the glucocorticoid dexamethasone in rat brain

Glucocorticoid/Adiponectin Axis Mediates Full Activation of Cold-Induced Beige Fat Thermogenesis

Glucocorticoids (GCs), a class of corticosteroids produced by the adrenal cortex in response to stress, exert obesity-promoting effects. Although adaptive thermogenesis has been considered an effective approach to counteract obesity, whether GCs play a role in regulating cold stress-induced thermogenesis remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that the circulating levels of stress hormone corticosterone (GC in rodents) were significantly elevated, whereas the levels of adiponectin, an adipokine that was linked to cold-induced adaptive thermogenesis, were decreased 48 h post cold exposure. The administration of a glucocorticoid hydrocortisone downregulated adiponectin protein and mRNA levels in both WAT and white adipocytes, and upregulated thermogenic gene expression in inguinal fat. In contrast, mifepristone, a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, enhanced adiponectin expression and suppressed energy expenditure in vivo. Mechanistically, hydrocortisone suppressed adiponectin expression by antagonizing PPARγ in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Ultimately, adiponectin deficiency restored mifepristone-decreased oxygen consumption and suppressed the expression of thermogenic genes in inguinal fat. Taken together, our study reveals that the GCs/adiponectin axis is a key regulator of beige fat thermogenesis in response to acute cold stress.

Beta-adrenergic receptor antagonism is proinflammatory and exacerbates neuroinflammation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's Disease

Adrenergic systems regulate both cognitive function and immune function. The primary source of adrenergic signaling in the brain is norepinephrine (NE) neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC), which are vulnerable to age-related degeneration and are one of the earliest sites of pathology and degeneration in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Loss of adrenergic tone may potentiate neuroinflammation both in aging and neurodegenerative conditions. Importantly, beta-blockers (beta-adrenergic antagonists) are a common treatment for hypertension, co-morbid with aging, and may further exacerbate neuroinflammation associated with loss of adrenergic tone in the central nervous system (CNS). The present studies were designed to both examine proinflammatory consequences of beta-blocker administration in an acute lipopolysaccharide (LPS) model as well as to examine chronic effects of beta-blocker administration on neuroinflammation and behavior in an amyloid-beta protein precursor (APP) mouse model of AD. We provide evidence for robust potentiation of peripheral inflammation with 4 different beta-blockers in an acute model of LPS. However, beta-blockers did not potentiate CNS inflammation in this model. Notably, in this same model, the genetic knockdown of either beta1- or beta2-adrenergic receptors in microglia did potentiate CNS inflammation. Furthermore, in an APP mouse model of amyloid pathology, chronic beta-blocker administration did potentiate CNS inflammation. The beta-blocker, metoprolol, also induced markers of phagocytosis and impaired cognitive behavior in both wild-type and APP mice. Given the induction of markers of phagocytosis in vivo, we examined phagocytosis of synaptosomes in an in vitro primary microglia culture and showed that beta-blockers enhanced whereas beta-adrenergic agonists inhibited phagocytosis of synaptosomes. In conclusion, beta-blockers potentiated inflammation peripherally in a systemic model of inflammation and centrally in an amyloidosis model of neuroinflammation. Additionally, beta-blockers impaired learning and memory and modulated synaptic phagocytosis with implications for synaptic degeneration. These findings warrant further consideration of the proinflammatory consequences of chronic beta-blocker administration, which are not restricted to the periphery in patients with neurodegenerative disorders.

Beta-2 Adrenergic and Glucocorticoid Receptor Agonists Modulate Ozone-Induced Pulmonary Protein Leakage and Inflammation in Healthy and Adrenalectomized Rats

We have shown that acute ozone inhalation activates sympathetic-adrenal-medullary and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal stress axes, and adrenalectomy (AD) inhibits ozone-induced lung injury and inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesized that stress hormone receptor agonists (β2 adrenergic-β2AR and glucocorticoid-GR) will restore the ozone injury phenotype in AD, while exacerbating effects in sham-surgery (SH) rats. Male Wistar Kyoto rats that underwent SH or AD were treated with vehicles (saline + corn oil) or β2AR agonist clenbuterol (CLEN, 0.2 mg/kg, i.p.) + GR agonist dexamethasone (DEX, 2 mg/kg, s.c.) for 1 day and immediately prior to each day of exposure to filtered air or ozone (0.8 ppm, 4 h/day for 1 or 2 days). Ozone-induced increases in PenH and peak-expiratory flow were exacerbated in CLEN+DEX-treated SH and AD rats. CLEN+DEX affected breath waveform in all rats. Ozone exposure in vehicle-treated SH rats increased bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) protein, N-acetyl glucosaminidase activity (macrophage activation), neutrophils, and lung cytokine expression while reducing circulating lymphocyte subpopulations. AD reduced these ozone effects in vehicle-treated rats. At the doses used herein, CLEN+DEX treatment reversed the protection offered by AD and exacerbated most ozone-induced lung effects while diminishing circulating lymphocytes. CLEN+DEX in air-exposed SH rats also induced marked protein leakage and reduced circulating lymphocytes but did not increase BALF neutrophils. In conclusion, circulating stress hormones and their receptors mediate ozone-induced vascular leakage and inflammatory cell trafficking to the lung. Those receiving β2AR and GR agonists for chronic pulmonary diseases, or with increased circulating stress hormones due to psychosocial stresses, might have altered sensitivity to air pollution.

Clenbuterol activates the central IL-1 system via the β2-adrenoceptor without provoking inflammatory response related behaviours in rats

The long-acting, highly lipophilic, β2-adrenoceptor agonist clenbuterol may represent a suitable therapeutic agent for the treatment of neuroinflammation as it drives an anti-inflammatory response within the CNS. However, clenbuterol is also known to increase the expression of IL-1β in the brain, a potent neuromodulator that plays a role in provoking sickness related symptoms including anxiety and depression-related behaviours. Here we demonstrate that, compared to the immunological stimulus lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 250μg/kg), clenbuterol (0.5mg/kg) selectively up-regulates expression of the central IL-1 system resulting in a mild stress-like response which is accompanied by a reduction in locomotor activity and food consumption in rats. We provide further evidence that clenbuterol-induced activation of the central IL-1 system occurs in a controlled and selective manner in tandem with its negative regulators IL-1ra and IL-1RII. Furthermore, we demonstrate that peripheral β2-adrenoceptors mediate the suppression of locomotor activity and food consumption induced by clenbuterol and that these effects are not linked to the central induction of IL-1β. Moreover, despite increasing central IL-1β expression, chronic administration of clenbuterol (0.03mg/kg; twice daily for 21days) fails to induce anxiety or depressive-like behaviour in rats in contrast to reports of the ability of exogenously administered IL-1 to induce these symptoms in rodents. Overall, our findings suggest that clenbuterol or other selective β2-adrenoceptor agonists could have the potential to combat neuroinflammatory or neurodegenerative disorders without inducing unwanted symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Adult glucocorticoid exposure leads to transcriptional and DNA methylation changes in nuclear steroid receptors in the hippocampus and kidney of mouse male offspring

Synthetic glucocorticoids (sGCs) are commonly prescribed for the management of inflammatory and endocrine disorders. However, nothing is known regarding the effects of sGC on adult germline methylome and whether these effects can be transmitted to the next generation. We hypothesized that administration of sGC to adult male mice alters DNA methylation in mature sperm and modifies the transcription and methylation of steroid receptors in male F1 offspring. Adult C57BL/6 males (n = 10/group) were injected on five consecutive days with 1 mg/kg sGC (i.e., dexamethasone) or vehicle and euthanized 35 or 60 days after initial treatment or bred with control females (60 days postinitial treatment; n = 5/group). A significant increase in global non-CpG methylation was observed in F0 sperm 60 days following sGC treatment. In the hippocampus and kidney of Postnatal Day 50 (PND50) and PND240 male offspring derived from fathers exposed to sGC, significant differences in mineralocorticoid receptor (Nr3c2; Mr), estrogen alpha receptor (Nr3a1; Ers1), and glucocorticoid receptor (Nr3c1; Gr) expression were observed. Furthermore, significant demethylation in regulatory regions of Mr, Gr, and Esr1 was observed in the PND50 kidney derived from fathers exposed to sGC. This is the first demonstration that paternal pharmacological exposure to sGC can alter the expression and DNA methylation of nuclear steroid receptors in brain and somatic tissues of offspring. These findings provide proof of principle that adult male exposure to sGC can affect DNA methylation and gene expression in offspring, indicating the possibility that adult experiences that evoke increases in endogenous glucocorticoid (i.e., stress) might have similar effects.

Acute aerocystitis in Piaractus mesopotamicus: participation of eicosanoids and pro-inflammatory cytokines

A total of 360 pacus (Piaractus mesopotamicus) were used to study vascular permeability (VP) and inflammatory cell component (CC) in induced aerocystitis in P. mesopotamicus through inoculation of inactivated Aeromonas hydrophila, and the effect of steroidal and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It was observed that after inoculation of A. hydrophila, the maximum VP occurred 180 min post-stimulus (MPS). Pretreatment with anti-inflammatory drugs inhibited VP, and the inhibitory effect of dexamethasone was seen earlier than the effects caused by meloxicam and indomethacin. Inoculation of the bacterium caused a gradual increase in the accumulation of cells, which reached a maximum 24 h post-stimulus (HPS). Pretreatment with dexamethasone, indomethacin and meloxicam reduced the accumulation of lymphocytes, thrombocytes, granulocytes and macrophages. There was no significant difference between the different doses of the drugs tested. The results suggest that eicosanoids and pro-inflammatory cytokines participate in chemical mediation in acute inflammation in pacus.

The systemic response to brain injury and disease

The idea that the brain is immunologically privileged and displays an atypical leukocyte recruitment profile following injury has influenced our ideas about how signals might be carried between brain and the periphery. For many, this has encouraged a cerebrocentric view of immunological responses to CNS injury, with little reference to the potential contribution from other organs. However, it is clear that bidirectional pathways between the brain and the peripheral immune system are important in the pathogenesis of CNS disease. In recent years, we have begun to understand the signals that are carried to the periphery and discovered new functions for known chemokines, made by the liver in response to brain injury, as important regulators of the CNS inflammatory response.