1. Sympathetic nerves control bacterial clearance
- Author
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David G.S. Farmer, Yugeesh R Lankadeva, Melanie R Neeland, Sammy Bedoui, Shuai Ma, Michael J. McKinley, Roy M. Robins-Browne, Clive N. May, Robin M. McAllen, Dianna M Hocking, Simon R. Bailey, Davide Martelli, Lankadeva Y.R., May C.N., McKinley M.J., Neeland M.R., Ma S., Hocking D.M., Robins-Browne R., Bedoui S., Farmer D.G.S., Bailey S.R., Martelli D., and McAllen R.M.
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Sympathetic nervous system ,Sympathetic Nervous System ,Neuroimmunology ,Inflammatory reflex ,lcsh:Medicine ,Physiology ,Inflammation ,Bacteremia ,Systemic inflammation ,Splanchnic nerves ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Medical research ,0302 clinical medicine ,Catecholamines ,Neuroimmunology, Peripheral nervous system, Medical research ,Reflex ,medicine ,Animals ,Arterial Pressure ,lcsh:Science ,Escherichia coli Infections ,Multidisciplinary ,Sheep ,business.industry ,lcsh:R ,Splanchnic Nerves ,Bacterial Load ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Peripheral nervous system ,Cytokines ,lcsh:Q ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,Splanchnic ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
A neural reflex mediated by the splanchnic sympathetic nerves regulates systemic inflammation in negative feedback fashion, but its consequences for host responses to live infection are unknown. To test this, conscious instrumented sheep were infected intravenously with live E. coli bacteria and followed for 48 h. A month previously, animals had undergone either bilateral splanchnic nerve section or a sham operation. As established for rodents, sheep with cut splanchnic nerves mounted a stronger systemic inflammatory response: higher blood levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-6 but lower levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10, compared with sham-operated animals. Sequential blood cultures revealed that most sham-operated sheep maintained high circulating levels of live E. coli throughout the 48-h study period, while all sheep without splanchnic nerves rapidly cleared their bacteraemia and recovered clinically. The sympathetic inflammatory reflex evidently has a profound influence on the clearance of systemic bacterial infection.
- Published
- 2020