THE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE IN INTERLEUKIN-1-BETA-DEFICIENT MICE - COMPARISON WITH OTHER CYTOKINE-RELATED KNOCK-OUT MICE

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) plays a crucial role in the development of the pa thophysiological responses to infection and inflammation. However, the relative contributions of IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta remain to be clari fied. IL-1 beta-deficient mice are a powerful tool to investigate the specific role of IL-1 beta in various experimental conditions. In this report, we summarize the response of IL-1 beta-deficient mice to two different inflammatory stimuli, turpentine and endotoxin. Although IL- 1 beta-deficient mice respond normally to the systemic administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), they do not develop an acute-phase respon se in the localized tissue damage model of turpentine injection. The r esults obtained using the IL-1 beta-deficient mice are compared here w ith those observed in the IL-1 beta-converting enzyme-deficient, IL-6- deficient, tumor necrosis factor-receptor p55-deficient, and interfero n-gamma-receptor-deficient mice.