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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
06:29
Accurate and Simple Measurement of the Pro-inflammatory Cytokine IL-1β using a Whole Blood Stimulation Assay
Published on: March 1, 2011
Human recombinant interleukin 1 beta suppresses acetylcholine release from rat myenteric plexus
C Main1, P Blennerhassett, S M Collins
1Intestinal Diseases Research Unit, McMaster University Medical Centre, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Gastroenterology
|June 1, 1993
Summary
Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) suppresses acetylcholine (ACh) release from myenteric nerves. This suppression is time and concentration dependent, mediated by a protein, and implicated in intestinal inflammation.
Area of Science:
- Neurogastroenterology
- Immunology
- Physiology
Background:
- Intestinal inflammation from Trichinella spiralis infection suppresses acetylcholine (ACh) release.
- Increased interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) expression is observed in the myenteric plexus during infection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of IL-1 beta on ACh release in non-infected rat intestine.
- To determine if IL-1 beta mediates changes in cholinergic nerve function.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal muscle-myenteric plexus (LMMP) preparations were used.
- ACh release was measured by [3H]choline after KCl or electrical field stimulation.
- Experiments involved incubation with human recombinant IL-1 beta.
Main Results:
- IL-1 beta did not immediately affect basal or stimulated ACh release.
- Preincubation with IL-1 beta for 60+ minutes suppressed ACh release in a time- and concentration-dependent manner.
- The suppressive effect was protein-mediated, blocked by cycloheximide, and reversible.
Conclusions:
- IL-1 beta suppresses ACh release through the formation of a protein mediator.
- IL-1 beta is a potential mediator of altered cholinergic nerve function in inflamed rat intestines.
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