| First Author | Chourbaji S | Year | 2006 |
| Journal | Neurobiol Dis | Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 587-94 |
| PubMed ID | 16843000 | Mgi Jnum | J:146951 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3838951 | Doi | 10.1016/j.nbd.2006.05.001 |
| Citation | Chourbaji S, et al. (2006) IL-6 knockout mice exhibit resistance to stress-induced development of depression-like behaviors. Neurobiol Dis 23(3):587-94 |
| abstractText | Cytokine-dependent mechanisms in the CNS have been implicated in the pathogenesis of depression. Interleukin-6 is upregulated in depressed patients and dowregulated by antidepressants. It is, however, unknown whether IL-6 is involved in the pathogenesis of depression. We subjected IL-6-deficient mice (IL-6(-/-)) to depression-related tests (learned helplessness, forced swimming, tail suspension, sucrose preference). We also investigated IL-6 in the hippocampus of stressed wild-type mice. IL-6(-/-) mice showed reduced despair in the forced swim, and tail suspension test, and enhanced hedonic behavior. Moreover, IL-6(-/-) mice exhibited resistance to helplessness. This resistance may be caused by the lack of IL-6, because stress increased IL-6 expression in wild-type hippocampi. This suggests that IL-6 is a component in molecular mechanisms in the pathogenesis of depression. IL-6(-/-) mice represent tools to study IL-6-dependent signaling pathways in the pathophysiology of depression in vivo. Moreover, these mice may support the screening of compounds for depression by altering cytokine-mediated signaling. |
