Exercise stimulates interleukin-6 secretion: inhibition by
glucocorticoids and correlation with catecholamines.
Da, Papanicolaou, Petrides Js, Tsigos C, Bina S, Kalogeras Kt, Wilder
R, Gold Pw, Deuster Pa, Chrousos Gp.
Developmental Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892,
Departments of Physiology, Anesthesiology, Military and Emergency
Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences,
Bethesda, Maryland 20892, Clinical Neuroendocrinology Branch,
National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892,
Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch, National Institute of Arthritis and
Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
APStracts 3:0110E, 1996.
In experimental animals, stress and catecholamines stimulate
endogenous interleukin-6 (IL-6) secretion, while glucocorticoids
inhibit it. To examine whether physical stress alters the secretion
of IL-6 in humans, and to what extent this is correlated with
catecholamines and modified by glucocorticoids, we performed high
-intensity treadmill exercise test runs on fifteen male volunteers, in
a double-blind crossover design, after pretreatment with placebo,
hydrocortisone or dexamethasone. Plasma epinephrine and
norepinephrine concentrations peaked 15 min after the start of
exercise, whereas plasma IL-6 concentrations peaked twice, 15 min and
45 min after the onset of the test run. There was no difference in
either the epinephrine or norepinephrine peaks among the 3
treatments, while the net area under the curve for IL-6 was smaller
after hydrocortisone or dexamethasone than after placebo, and after
dexamethasone than after hydrocortisone. A positive correlation was
observed between peak plasma epinephrine or norepinephrine and IL-6
levels at 15 min. These findings suggest that IL-6 secretion is
stimulated during exercise, possibly by catecholamines, while
exogenous glucocorticoids attenuate this effect, without affecting
the catecholamine levels.
Received 8 March 1996; accepted in final form 17 May 1996.
APS Manuscript Number E116-6.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Endocrinol. Metab.).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 17 June 96