| First Author | Zimmerman G | Year | 2012 |
| Journal | Transl Psychiatry | Volume | 2 |
| Pages | e78 | PubMed ID | 22832815 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:315212 | Mgi Id | MGI:6829805 |
| Doi | 10.1038/tp.2012.4 | Citation | Zimmerman G, et al. (2012) Post-traumatic anxiety associates with failure of the innate immune receptor TLR9 to evade the pro-inflammatory NFkappaB pathway. Transl Psychiatry 2:e78 |
| abstractText | Post-traumatic anxiety notably involves inflammation, but its causes and functional significance are yet unclear. Here, we report that failure of the innate immune system Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) to limit inflammation is causally involved with anxiety-associated inflammation and that peripheral administration of specific oligonucleotide activators of TLR9 may prevent post-traumatic consequences in stressed mice. Suggesting involvement of NFkappaB-mediated enhancement of inflammatory reactions in the post-traumatic phenotype, we found association of serum interleukin-1beta increases with symptoms severity and volumetric brain changes in post-traumatic stress disorder patients. In predator scent-stressed mice, the moderate NFkappaB-activating oligonucleotides mEN101 and its human ortholog BL-7040, but not the canonic NFkappaB activator oligonucleotide ODN1826, induced anxiolytic effects. In stressed mice, peripherally administered mEN101 prevented delayed stress-inducible serum interleukin-1beta increases while limiting stress-characteristic hippocampal transcript modifications and the anxiety-induced EGR1-mediated neuronal activation. Attesting to the TLR9 specificity of this response, BL-7040 suppressed NFkappaB-mediated luciferase in transfected cells co-expressing TLR9, but not other TLRs. Furthermore, TLR9-/- mice were mEN101 and BL-7040 resistant and presented unprovoked anxiety-like behavior and anxiety-characteristic hippocampal transcripts. Our findings demonstrate functional relevance of TLR9 in protecting stressed mammals from overreacting to traumatic experiences and suggest using oligonucleotide-mediated peripheral TLR9 activation to potentiate the innate immune system and prevent post-traumatic inflammation and anxiety. |
