Oxidative stress: Noradrenaline as an integrator of responses in the neuroendocrine and immune systems of the ascidian Phallusia nigra

Abstract

Neurotransmitters play key roles in regulating the homeostasis of organisms in stressful environments. Noradrenaline (NA) is the main neurotransmitter known to modulate immunological parameters, and is important in the crosstalk between the neuroendocrine and immune systems. In this study, using the ascidian Phallusia nigra, we analyzed the level of catecholamines (CA) in the plasma after mechanical stress, and the effect of NA on the oxidative stress (OS) displayed by immune cells. We measured the concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and analyzed whether α- and/or β-adrenoreceptors (ARs) are involved in ROS modulation, lipid peroxidation (LPO), antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radicals (ACAP), and activity of the enzymes catalase (CAT) and glutathione S transferase (GST) in immune cells after incubation with different concentrations of NA, with or without zymosan (ZnA) challenge. The results showed that NA reduced ROS production, even in immune cells challenged with ZnA, and that this modulation occurred through α₁-and β₁-ARs. ACAP levels showed different responses, depending on whether immune cells were challenged or not with ZnA, and also depending on the NA concentration: 1.0 μM NA increased ACAP levels, but 10.0 μM reduced ACAP levels. NA enhanced the activity of CAT and GST in ZnA-challenged and non-challenged immune cells, while 1.0 and 10.0 μM NA effectively reduced LPO. Taken together, these results show that NA can protect cells from ROS damage, decreasing ROS production and LPO, and enhancing ACAP as well as the activity of CAT and GST. The approach used here with this model contributes to understanding the relationship between the neuroendocrine and immune systems, revealing new effects of NA on OS regulation in ascidians.

Keywords: Ascidian; Biogenic amines; Catalase; Immunomodulation; Reactive oxygen species; α- and β-adrenoreceptors.