Abstract
Stimulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis by the cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is an important facet of the functional interaction between the endocrine and immune systems. IL-1β can act by releasing corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) from the hypothalamus, but it has also been proposed to act directly at the anterior pituitary when the pituitary has been primed with CRH. We tested this hypothesis using in vitro experiments in which anterior pituitaries were primed with low doses of CRH. We were unable to demonstrate a direct effect of IL-1β on the release of ACTH from freshly harvested anterior pituitary tissue. Neither continuous nor discontinuous priming of the cells with CRH or arginine vasopressin, at concentrations by themselves insufficient to cause ACTH release, facilitated an ACTH response to IL-1β. Therefore our data do not support the hypothesis that IL-1β can have a direct effect upon ACTH release from the anterior pituitary primed with CRH.
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