A. Kavelaars et al., BETA(2)-ADRENERGIC ACTIVATION ENHANCES INTERLEUKIN-8 PRODUCTION BY HUMAN MONOCYTES, Journal of neuroimmunology, 77(2), 1997, pp. 211-216
Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is an important cytokine in inflammatory processe
s by functioning as a chemoattractant and as an activator of oxygen me
tabolism. In the present study we demonstrate that beta(2)-adrenergic
agonists potentiate the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and IL-1 induced prod
uction of IL-8 by human monocytes. In addition. beta(2)-adrenergic act
ivation enhances IL-8 release and mRNA expression for IL-8 in the huma
n monocytic cell line U937. beta(2)-adrenergic activation of these cel
ls also results in enhanced production of the anti-inflammatory cytoki
ne IL-IO. However, IL-IO is not involved in the regulation of IL-8 pro
duction. The effect of the beta(2)-adrenergic agonist on IL-8 producti
on is presumably mediated via increased cAMP formation, since it can b
e mimicked by the cAMP analogue dibutyryl-cAMP (db-cAMP). We conclude
that enhancement of IL-8 production is one of the pathways via which b
eta(2)-adrenergic agonists such as catecholamines can influence inflam
matory responses.