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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Accurate and Simple Measurement of the Pro-inflammatory Cytokine IL-1β using a Whole Blood Stimulation Assay
Published on: March 1, 2011
Hypothalamic releasing hormones mediating the effects of interleukin-1 on sleep
L C Payne1, F Obál, J M Krueger
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Alabama, Birmingham.
Abstract:
There is a substantial literature describing the interactions between the endocrine and immune systems. Although such interactions are less well known within the brain, one major brain function altered during inflammation and infection and by several endocrine hormones is sleep. Pathological disturbances, be they inflammation, infectious disease, and/or sleep deprivation, result in altered hypothalamus-pituitary function and cytokine metabolism. In respect to hormone secretion from the pituitary, cytokines are now recognized to play an important role in modulating the neuroendocrine system. Changes in sleep provide a useful illustration of the interactions between cytokines and the hypothalamus-pituitary axis. Evidence linking interleukin-1 (IL-1) to growth hormone releasing hormone and to corticotropin releasing hormone in regard to their effects on sleep is reviewed.
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