Interleukin-6 Found to Protect Brain Cells

A study has found that the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), linked in the immune system to the development of inflammatory conditions and malignant diseases, plays a very different role in the brain by protecting brain cells from degenerative diseases. The study was published in the January 15, 2003, issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Investigators from the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN, USA) genetically engineered lines of mice with varying levels of IL-6 production. All were infected with a virus that causes a degenerative nerve disease. Animals with high levels of IL-6 were able to fight off the infection with little or no damage to nervous tissues, while those with low levels of IL-6 became severely ill or died. Only two of 23 (~9%) infected mice possessing IL-6 died. By comparison, 17 of 29 mice (~60%%) lacking IL-6 died after virus infection.

Senior author Dr. Moses Rodriquez, a researcher at the Mayo Clinic said, "One of the biggest challenges we face as a society is the eventual loss and degeneration of neurons from many causes, so identifying any factor that protects neurons or promotes their survival is an important step toward improving health as we age. Every disease that is a degenerative disease of the nervous system could potentially be amenable to some kind of treatment with a growth factor like IL-6 because its goal is to keep neurons alive.”



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