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[Possible mechanism of the analgesic effect of interleukin-2 in central nervous system]

C L Jiang1, D Xu, Z D You

  • 1Department of Neurobiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai.

The monoclonal antibody against IL-2R (Tac) could not block the analgesic effect of IL-2, and IL-2 mutant that could not bind to beta subunit of IL-2 receptor still had capability of increasing the pain threshold of rats. All these facts suggest that the analgesic effect of IL-2 in CNS is not mediated through the IL-2 receptor, and that the immune and analgesic effects of IL-2 are mediated through different receptor mechanisms. It is suggested that there are common antigenic determinants and similar structure between IL-2 and endogenous opioid peptides (EOP). This implies that the analgesic effect of IL-2 might be mediated by interaction between IL-2 and opioid receptors in CNS. Using radioimmunoassay the contents of EOP of different nuclei were measured at different times after injecting IL-2 into the lateral ventricle of rats. The results suggested that the analgesic effect of IL-2 may be related to beta-EP and LEK in arcuate hypothalamic nucleus, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and locus ceruleus.

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