Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROINFLAMMATION
Volume 11, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/1742-2094-11-8
Keywords
Restraint stress; TLR-4 signalling; Bacterial translocation; Neuroinflammation; Frontal cortex
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Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [SAF07-63138]
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III [FIS 10/00123]
- Centro de Investigacion en Red de Salud Mental
- CIBERSAM
- Foundation Santander-UCM [GR 58/08]
- Fundacion Mutua Madrilena
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Background: The innate immune response is the first line of defence against invading microorganisms and it is also activated in different neurologic/neurodegenerative pathological scenarios. As a result, the family of the innate immune toll-like receptors (TLRs) and, in particular, the genetic/pharmacological manipulation of the TLR-4 signalling pathway emerges as a potential therapeutic strategy. Growing evidence relates stress exposure with altered immune responses, but the precise role of TLR-4 remains partly unknown. Methods: The present study aimed to elucidate whether the elements of the TLR-4 signalling pathway are activated after acute stress exposure in rat brain frontal cortex and its role in the regulation of the stress-induced neuroinflammatory response, by means of its pharmacological modulation with the intravenous administration of the TLR-4 specific inhibitor TAK-242. Considering that TLR-4 responds predominantly to lipopolysaccharide from gram-negative bacteria, we checked whether increased intestinal permeability and a resultant bacterial translocation is a potential regulatory mechanism of stress-induced TLR-4 activation. Results: Acute restraint stress exposure upregulates TLR-4 expression both at the mRNA and protein level. Stress-induced TLR-4 upregulation is prevented by the protocol of antibiotic intestinal decontamination made to reduce indigenous gastrointestinal microflora, suggesting a role for bacterial translocation on TLR-4 signalling pathway activation. TAK-242 pre-stress administration prevents the accumulation of potentially deleterious inflammatory and oxidative/nitrosative mediators in the brain frontal cortex of rats. Conclusions: The use of TAK-242 or other TLR-4 signalling pathway inhibitory compounds could be considered as a potential therapeutic adjuvant strategy to constrain the inflammatory process taking place after stress exposure and in stress-related neuropsychiatric diseases.
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