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Expression of interleukin-6 messenger RNA in a rat model of diffuse axonal injury
Jonathan K J Rhodes1, Peter J D Andrews, Megan C Holmes
1Department of Molecular Endocrinology, University of Edinburgh, Molecular Medicine Centre, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, Scotland, UK. jonathanrhodes@blueyonder.co.uk
Abstract:
Having demonstrated a transcranial gradient of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with either traumatic brain injury or spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage we have employed in situ hybridisation for IL-6 messenger RNA (mRNA) to determine the site of this IL-6 production within the central nervous system (CNS). A rodent weight drop model of traumatic brain injury was used. IL-6 mRNA levels in brains were determined 6 h after injury. Sham animals had normal constitutive expression for IL6 mRNA. In traumatised animals an intense area of IL-6 mRNA labelling was found below the hippocampus. Cells strongly expressing IL-6 mRNA were also seen in the dentate gyrus. This inflammatory cytokine is clearly implicated in the response to CNS injury, but whether this response is neuroprotective or pathological is uncertain.