| First Author | Muceniece R | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | Brain Res | Volume | 995 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 7-13 |
| PubMed ID | 14644465 | Mgi Jnum | J:87284 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:2684005 | Doi | 10.1016/j.brainres.2003.09.039 |
| Citation | Muceniece R, et al. (2004) beta- and gamma-melanocortins inhibit lipopolysaccharide induced nitric oxide production in mice brain. Brain Res 995(1):7-13 |
| abstractText | The pro-opiomelanocortin-derived peptide alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) mediates many diverse physiological actions, including anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. However, little is known about the physiological roles of the other melanocortins, beta- and gamma-MSH. Here, we investigated the effects of melanocortin peptides in an in vivo neuroinflammation model. Six hours following intracisternal (i.c.) administration of 10 microg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mice a five-fold increase in the nitric oxide (NO) level was seen in the animals' brains, when detected by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). All tested melanocortins, alpha-, beta-, gamma1- and gamma2-MSH (0.001-10 nmol/mouse i.c.), dose dependently reduced the LPS induced increases in brain NO, with an order of effectiveness: beta-MSH>/=gamma1-MSH=gamma2-MSH>alpha-MSH. Our results suggest specialized functions of beta- and gamma-MSH melanocortins in inflammatory signal modulation in the brain. |
