Cytokine production by naive and primary effector CD4+ T cells exposed to norepinephrine

We recently showed that clones of Th1 cells, but not Th2 cells, expressed a functional beta-2-adrenergic receptor (beta2AR) and that either norepinephrine or the beta2AR agonist terbutaline stimulated this receptor to modulate the level of Th1 cytokines produced. In the present study, we show that norepinephrine and terbutaline stimulate the beta2AR to decrease the level of IL-2 produced by freshly isolated murine splenic naive CD4+ T cells from either Balb/C or DO11.10 transgenic mice and activated polyclonally with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 mAbs. In contrast, the level of cytokines produced by primary effector Th1 and Th2 cells were unaffected when norepinephrine, terbutaline, or cAMP analogs were added at the time of restimulation. These results suggest that a diversity exists among CD4+ T-cell subsets with respect to the level of adrenergic receptor expression, responsiveness to cAMP, stage of cell differentiation, or a combination of the above.