Effects of interleukin-1beta on food-maintained behavior in the mouse

The present studies compared the effect of parenteral administration of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) on food-seeking behavior under various conditions. IL-1beta (100 ng/mouse) decreased home cage consumption of sweetened milk to a greater extent in ad libitum fed mice than in mice that were food-restricted to maintain 85-90% of their free-feeding body weight. When operant responding for milk was maintained under a fixed-ratio 10 response (FR10) schedule of milk delivery, IL-1beta (30-300 ng/mouse) significantly decreased milk-maintained responding in mice fed ad libitum, but not in food-restricted mice. When food-restricted mice were trained under either an FR4 or FR32 response schedule of milk delivery, IL-1beta (100-300 ng/mouse) produced significant decreases in FR32, but not in FR4 responding. When responding was maintained under a progressive-ratio 10 response (PR10) schedule of milk delivery, IL-1beta (30-300 ng/mouse) dose-dependently decreased breaking points. These results indicate that the effects of IL-1beta on food-maintained behavior depend on both the level of motivation (as assessed by food restriction) and on the response cost for the milk (as assessed by ratio requirement). These findings suggest that motivational factors may be capable of attenuating some of the behavioral effects of these agents.