European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 9 - Number 3
Eur J Anat, 9 (3): 127-134 (2005)

Effects of Arg-vasopressin and corticosterone on IL-1?-induced modifications of pituitary ACTH-producing cells

Montero M.C., Vazquez R., Blanco E., Rubio M., Herrero J.J., Carretero M., Gonzalez R., Riesco J.M., Carretero J.

Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Institute of Neurosciences of Castilla y León, University of Salamanca, Spain; Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain; Department of Educational Sciences, School of Educational Sciences, University Pontificia of Salamanca, Spain; Departamento de Anatomia e Histologia Humanas, Facultad de Medicina, Avda. Alfonso X el Sabio, s/n, E-37007 Salamanca, Spain

ABSTRACT Interleukin 1? (IL-1?) stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenal axis, however the autoparacrine effects of IL-1?, on pituitary ACTH-producing cells and the relations among IL-1? and Arg-vasopressin or corticosterone have not yet been analyzed. To address these effects, pituitary monolayer cultures were treated with IL-1?, Arg-vasopressin and corticosterone, either alone or in combined treatment, and an immunocytochemical, morphometric and densitometric study of ACTH-positive cells was carried out. IL-1? significantly increased the percentage and cellular and nuclear size of ACTH-positive cells, and similar effects were found following treatment with Arg-vasopressin. Combined treatment with IL-1? and Arg-vasopressin increased these parameters more than in separate treatments. Corticosterone decreased these parameters and blocked the effects of IL-1? and Arg-vasopressin in the combined treatments. In sum, our results suggest that IL-1? is an auto-paracrine regulator of pituitary ACTH-producing cells, that it reinforces the stimulatory effects of Arg-vasopressin and that corticosterone is an inhibitory regulator of the auto-paracrine effects of IL-1? and Arg-vasopressin.

Keywords: arginine, corticosterone, corticotropin, interleukin 1beta, vasopressin, animal cell, animal experiment, animal tissue, article, cell nucleus, cell size, controlled study, densitometry, drug inhibition, drug potentiation, hypophysis cell, hypothalamus hypophysis adrenal system, immunocytochemistry, male, morphometrics, nonhuman, paracrine signaling, rat

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)