Interleukin-1 interaction with neuroregulatory systems: selective enhancement by recombinant human and mouse interleukin-1 of in vitro opioid peptide receptor binding in rat brain

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) exerts a wide variety of biological effects on various cell types and may be regarded as a pleiotropic peptide hormone. Biological evidence suggests that IL-1 participates in the modulation of central nervous system physiology and behavior in a fashion characteristic of neuroendocrine hormones. In this investigation, recombinant (r) human (h) IL-1 and r mouse (m) IL-1 were examined for their modulation of opioid peptide receptor binding in vitro. Experiments were performed on frozen sections of rat brain. Receptor binding of radiolabeled substance P and of radiolabeled neurotensin were not significantly affected by the presence of rIL-1s. Recombinant IL-1s, however, significantly enhanced specific binding of 125I-beta-endorphin (125I-beta-END) and of D-ala2-(tyrosyl-3,5-3H)enkephalin-(5-D-leucine) (3H-D-ALA), equipotently and in a concentration-dependent manner with maximal activity occurring at a concentration of 10 LAF units/ml. The increased binding of 125I-beta-END and 3H-D-ALA was blocked steroselectively by (-)-naloxone and by etorphine, suggesting detection of opiate receptors. In addition, brain distribution patterns of receptors labeled in the presence of rIL-1s corresponded to patterns previously published for opiate receptors. Autoradiographic visualization of receptors revealed that rIL-1s in the different areas of the brain exert their effect on opioid binding with comparable potencies. The data suggest that certain central nervous system effects of IL-1s may be mediated by their selective interaction with opiatergic systems at the receptor level