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Department of Anesthesiology- Research Division |
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Dr. Opp is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to study interactions between the brain and the immune system, as they are relevant to brain function. The central nervous system (CNS) responses to challenge, irrespective of the nature of the stimulus, almost invariably include changes in behavior. These changes in behavior may be interpreted in a functional sense as designed to return systems to acceptable physiologic status. Ongoing projects focus on the impact of immune and psychological stressors on sleep. These classes of stressors overlap to a large extent in anatomical and chemical substrates activated, yet behavioral responses diverge; psychological stressors generally increase wakefulness and arousal, whereas immune stressors generally increase sleep. To understand how different stressors that activate many of the same brain systems result in different behavioral outcomes, Dr. Opp's projects focus on interactions in brain between neurotransmitters (corticotropin-releasing hormone [CRH], serotonin [5-HT]) and immune-active cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1). Dr. Opp's research has shown that blocking CRH actions in brain induces IL-1 (which in turn increases in sleep), blockade of 5-HT2 receptors interferes with changes in sleep normally induced by IL-1, and that components of HIV are capable of altering sleep and up regulating IL-1 expression in brain. Dr. Opp's lab recently began investigating the impact of a severe and clinically relevant infection, sepsis, on CNS function. Collectively, results of these studies indicate that interactions in brain between neurotransmitters and immune-active substances are functionally relevant to the regulation of complex behavior. Whether the changes in sleep that occur after challenge aid in recovery remains to be determined. Recent Publications: Baker FC, Shah S, Stewart D, Angara C, Gong H, Szymusiak R, Opp MR, McGinty D. Interleukin 1 (beta) enhances non-rapid eye movement sleep and increases c-Fos protein expression in the median preoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol288:R998-1005, 2005. [PubMed] Morrow JD, Opp MR. Sleep-wake behavior and responses of interleukin-6-deficient mice to sleep deprivation. Brain Behav Immun. 19-28-39, 2005. [PubMed] Morrow JD, Opp MR. Dirunal variation of lipopolysaccharide-induced alterations in sleep and body temperature of interleukin-6-deficient mice. Brain Behav Immun. 19:40-51, 2005. [PubMed] Imeri L, Bianchi S, Opp MR. Antagonism of corticotropin-releasing hormone alters serotonergic-induced changes in brain temperature, but not sleep of rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 289: R1116-23, 2005. [PubMed] Opp MR. Cytokines and sleep. Sleep Med Rev 9: 353-64, 2005. [PubMed] Kapsimalis F, Richardson G, Opp MR, Kryger M. Cytokines and normal sleep. Curr Opin Pulm Med 11: 481-84, 2005. [PubMed] Imeri L, Bianchi S, Opp MR. Inhibition of caspase-1 in rat brain reduces spontaneous nonrapid eye movement sleep and nonrapid eye movement sleep enhancement induced by lipopolysaccharide. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2006 Jul;291(1):R197-204. [PubMed] Opp MR. Sleep and psychoneuroimmunology. Neurol Clin. 2006 Aug;24(3):493-506.[PubMed] McClintock SD, Barron AG, Olle EW, Deogracias MP, Warner RL, Opp MR, Johnson KJ. Role of interleukin-6 in a glucan-induced model of granulomatous vasculitis. Exp Mol Pathol. 2007 April;82(2):203-9. [PubMed] Olivadoti M, Toth LA, Weinberg J, Opp MR. Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68: a model for the study of Epstein-Barr virus infections and related diseases. Comp Med. 2007 Feb;57(1):44-50. [PubMed] Research Divisions | ||||||
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