Effects of sex and pro-inflammatory cytokines on context discrimination memory

In learning and memory tasks, immune overactivation is associated with impaired performance, while normal immune activation is associated with optimal performance. In one specific domain of memory, context discrimination memory, peripheral immune stimulation has been shown to impair performance on the context-object discrimination memory task in male rats. In order to evaluate potential sex differences in this task, as well as potential mechanisms for the memory impairment, we evaluated the ability of peripheral immune stimulation to impair task performance in both males and females. Next, we examined whether treatment with interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), a receptor antagonist for the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1β, was able to rescue the memory deficit. We examined microglial morphology in the hippocampus and cytokine mRNA and protein expression in the hippocampus and the periphery. Male rats displayed memory impairment in response to LPS, and this impairment was not rescued by IL-1ra. Female rats did not have significant memory impairments and IL-1ra administration improved memory following inflammation. A subset of cytokines and chemokines were increased only in LPS-treated males. Inflammation alone did not alter microglia morphology, but IL-1ra did in certain sub-regions of the hippocampus. Together, these results indicate that sex differences exist in the ability of a peripheral immune stimulus to influence context discrimination memory and specific cytokine signals may be altered in impaired males. This study highlights the importance of sex differences in response to inflammatory challenges, especially related to memory impairments in context discrimination memory.