| First Author | Hoekstra M | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | PLoS One | Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 11 | Pages | e80441 |
| PubMed ID | 24265824 | Mgi Jnum | J:209659 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5568286 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0080441 |
| Citation | Hoekstra M, et al. (2013) Leukocytosis and enhanced susceptibility to endotoxemia but not atherosclerosis in adrenalectomized APOE knockout mice. PLoS One 8(11):e80441 |
| abstractText | Hyperlipidemic apolipoprotein E (APOE) knockout mice show an enhanced level of adrenal-derived anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids. Here we determined in APOE knockout mice the impact of total removal of adrenal function through adrenalectomy (ADX) on two inflammation-associated pathologies, endotoxemia and atherosclerosis. ADX mice exhibited 91% decreased corticosterone levels (P<0.001), leukocytosis (WBC count: 10.0 +/- 0.4 x 10E9/L vs 6.5 +/- 0.5 x 10E9/L; P<0.001) and an increased spleen weight (P<0.01). FACS analysis on blood leukocytes revealed increased B-lymphocyte numbers (55 +/- 2% vs 46 +/- 1%; P<0.01). T-cell populations in blood appeared to be more immature (CD62L+: 26 +/- 2% vs 19 +/- 1% for CD4+ T-cells, P<0.001 and 58 +/- 7% vs 47 +/- 4% for CD8+ T-cells, P<0.05), which coincided with immature CD4/CD8 double positive thymocyte enrichment. Exposure to lipopolysaccharide failed to increase corticosterone levels in ADX mice and was associated with a 3-fold higher (P<0.05) TNF-alpha response. In contrast, the development of initial fatty streak lesions and progression to advanced collagen-containing atherosclerotic lesions was unaffected. Plasma cholesterol levels were decreased by 35% (P<0.001) in ADX mice. This could be attributed to a decrease in pro-atherogenic very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) as a result of a diminished hepatic VLDL secretion rate (-24%; P<0.05). In conclusion, our studies show that adrenalectomy induces leukocytosis and enhances the susceptibility for endotoxemia in APOE knockout mice. The adrenalectomy-associated rise in white blood cells, however, does not alter atherosclerotic lesion development probably due to the parallel decrease in plasma levels of pro-atherogenic lipoproteins. |
