Anti-inflammatory and opioid-mediated effects of melatonin on experimental peritonitis in chickens

The immunomodulatory properties of melatonin (Mel) are generally recognized but the mechanisms of its action are not fully understood. In mammals, some of the immunomodulatory effects of Mel are mediated by opioids synthesized by immune cells under its influence. The present study was performed to examine whether Mel-induced opioids are involved in the immunomodulatory activity of Mel in chickens. Experimental peritonitis was evoked by a single ip injection of thioglycollate (TG), and half of the birds were pre-treated with Mel. Some of the Mel-treated birds were additionally pre-treated with naltrexone, an antagonist of opioid receptors. Control birds received an injection of saline, Mel or were untreated. At specific post-injection intervals chickens were sacrificed, the peritoneal cavity was flushed out and peritoneal leukocytes (PTLs) were counted. The activity of PTLs was measured in vitro by the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Splenocytes were isolated aseptically and mitogen-stimulated in vitro proliferation was assessed. In PTLs and splenocytes the expression of opioid (proopiomelanocortin and proenkephalin) genes was also examined. Mel exerted a bi-phasic effect on TG-induced peritonitis in chickens: initially it blocked the development of peritonitis, decreasing the number of PTLs and intracellular ROS level (anti-inflammatory action), and thereafter an increase in both PTL number and ROS level was observed (pro-inflammatory action). The pro-inflammatory effect occurred a few hours after the induction of expression of the proenkephalin gene in PTLs and both the proenkephalin and proopiomelanocortin genes in splenocytes. These effects were prevented by naltrexone, suggesting involvement of the opiatergic mechanism.