Marked genetic differences in the regulation of blood glucose under immune and restraint stress in mice reveals a wide range of corticosensitivity

Male and female mice from different control strains (C57BL/6, DBA/2, BALB/c) and the nonobese diabetic (NOD) strain, a spontaneous model of type I diabetes, were subjected to various stressors (restraint, lipopolysaccharide or interleukin-1 injection). Significant differences were measured among strains in blood glucose, insulin and corticosterone levels and, for restraint, IL-6. Addition of dexamethasone, a glucocorticoid receptor agonist, to inhibit the expression of several, proteins by LPS-stimulated bone marrow-derived macrophages in vitro showed a gradient among control strains: C57BL/6>DBA/2>BALB/c corroborating the pattern of corticosensitivity suggested by their stress-induced glucose responses at the systemic level. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.