Objective: To evaluate the effect of treatment with interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) on the concentrations of soluble adhesion molecules after an endotoxic challenge.
Design: Randomized, controlled study.
Setting: Experimental Unit, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital.
Subjects: Seventy-two female CBA/H mice of 20 to 21 g, supplied by the animal center of the Experimental Unit.
Intervention: The mice were randomized into three groups of 24. Group 1 (sham) received two intraperitoneal (ip) doses of 0.1 mL of phosphate-buffered saline; group 2 (lipopolysaccharide) was injected with 125 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (Escherichia coli) (i.p.) 24 hrs after 0.1 mL of phosphate-buffered saline; group 3 was pretreated with 80 ng (i.p.) of IL-1beta per mouse 24 hrs before the endotoxic challenge.
Measurements and main results: At 1, 2, 4, and 24 hrs after the endotoxic challenge, the concentrations of soluble endothelial/leukocyte adhesion molecule 1 (ELAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) were measured in the three groups. There was a significant increase (p <.01) in these concentrations at these times in comparison with the sham group. The use of IL-1beta produced a significant decrease (p <.05) in the three molecules among the treated group versus the group submitted only to the challenge; concentrations of ELAM-1 significantly decreased to below those of the sham group, and those of VCAM-1 reduced to levels that did not significantly differ from those of the sham group.
Conclusion: Endotoxin administration significantly increases the concentrations of soluble ELAM-1, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 in mice. Treatment with IL-1beta significantly decreases these concentrations, probably attenuating cell injury and organ dysfunction.