PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ladenheim, Bruce
AU  - Krasnova, Irina N.
AU  - Deng, Xiaolin
AU  - Oyler, Jonathan M.
AU  - Polettini, Aldo
AU  - Moran, Timothy H.
AU  - Huestis, Marilyn A.
AU  - Cadet, Jean Lud
TI  - Methamphetamine-Induced Neurotoxicity Is Attenuated in Transgenic Mice with a Null Mutation for Interleukin-6
AID  - 10.1124/mol.58.6.1247
DP  - 2000 Dec 01
TA  - Molecular Pharmacology
PG  - 1247--1256
VI  - 58
IP  - 6
4099  - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/58/6/1247.short
4100  - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/58/6/1247.full
SO  - Mol Pharmacol2000 Dec 01; 58
AB  - Increasing evidence implicates apoptosis as a major mechanism of cell death in methamphetamine (METH) neurotoxicity. The involvement of a neuroimmune component in apoptotic cell death after injury or chemical damage suggests that cytokines may play a role in METH effects. In the present study, we examined if the absence of IL-6 in knockout (IL-6−/−) mice could provide protection against METH-induced neurotoxicity. Administration of METH resulted in a significant reduction of [125I]RTI-121-labeled dopamine transporters in the caudate-putamen (CPu) and cortex as well as depletion of dopamine in the CPu and frontal cortex of wild-type mice. However, these METH-induced effects were significantly attenuated in IL-6−/− animals. METH also caused a decrease in serotonin levels in the CPu and hippocampus of wild-type mice, but no reduction was observed in IL-6−/− animals. Moreover, METH induced decreases in [125I]RTI-55-labeled serotonin transporters in the hippocampal CA3 region and in the substantia nigra-reticulata but increases in serotonin transporters in the CPu and cingulate cortex in wild-type animals, all of which were attenuated in IL-6−/− mice. Additionally, METH caused increased gliosis in the CPu and cortices of wild-type mice as measured by [3H]PK-11195 binding; this gliotic response was almost completely inhibited in IL-6−/− animals. There was also significant protection against METH-induced DNA fragmentation, measured by the number of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end-labeled (TUNEL) cells in the cortices. The protective effects against METH toxicity observed in the IL-6−/− mice were not caused by differences in temperature elevation or in METH accumulation in wild-type and mutant animals. Therefore, these observations support the proposition that IL-6 may play an important role in the neurotoxicity of METH.