β-Adrenergic receptors, adipokines and neuroendocrine activation during stress induced by repeated immune challenge in male and female rats.

The main hypothesis of the study is that stress associated with repeated immune challenge has an impact on β-adrenergic receptor gene expression in the brain. Sprague-Dawley rats were intraperitoneally injected with increasing doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for five consecutive days. LPS treatment was associated with body weight loss and increased anxiety-like behavior. In LPS-treated animals of both sexes, β-receptor gene expression was increased in the prefrontal cortex but not the hippocampus. LPS treatment decreased β-receptor gene expression in white adipose tissue with higher values in males compared to females. In the adipose tissue, LPS reduced peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma, leptin and adiponectin gene expression, but increased interleukin-6 expression, irrespective of sex. Repeated immune challenge resulted in increased concentrations of plasma aldosterone and corticosterone with higher values of corticosterone in females compared to males. Concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in plasma were unaffected by LPS, while DHEA levels in the frontal cortex were lower in the LPS-treated animals compared to the controls. Thus, changes of DHEA levels in the brain take place irrespective of the changes of this neurosteroid in plasma. We have provided the first evidence on stress-induced increase in β-adrenergic receptor gene expression in the brain. Greater reduction of β-adrenergic receptor expression in the adipose tissue and of the body weight gain by repeated immune challenge in male than in female rats suggests sex differences in the role of β-adrenergic receptors in the metabolic functions. LPS-induced changes in adipose tissue regulatory factors and hormone concentrations might be important for coping with chronic infections.