CALL FOR PAPERS Physiology and Pharmacology of Temperature Regulation CCK2 receptor nullification attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced sickness behavior

Weiland, Tracey J., Nicholas J. Voudouris, and Stephen Kent. CCK2 receptor nullification attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced sickness behavior. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 292: R112–R123, 2007. First published July 20, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00156.2006.—Systemic infection produces a highly regulated set of responses such as fever, anorexia, adipsia, inactivity, and cachexia, collectively referred to as sickness behavior. Although the expression of sickness behavior requires immune-brain communication, the mechanisms by which peripheral cytokines signal the brain are unclear. Several mechanisms have been proposed for neuroimmune communication, including the interaction of cytokines with peripheral nerves. A critical role has been ascribed to the vagus nerve in mediating sickness behavior after intraperitoneally delivered immune activation, and converging evidence suggests that this communication may involve neurochemical intermediaries afferent and/or efferent to this nerve. Mice lacking functional CCK2/gastrin receptors (CCK2KO) and wild-type (WT) controls were administered LPS (50, 500, or 2,500 g/kg; serotype 0111:B4; ip). Results indicate a role for CCK2 receptor activation in the initiation and maintenance of LPS-induced sickness behavior. Compared with WT controls, CCK2KO mice were significantly less affected by LPS on measures of body temperature, activity, body weight, and food intake, with the magnitude of effects increasing with increasing LPS dose. Although activation of CCK2 receptors at the level of the vagus nerve cannot be excluded, a possible role for these receptors in nonvagal routes of immune-brain communication is suggested.