Vesicular acetylcholine transporter knock down-mice are more susceptible to inflammation, c-Fos expression and sickness behavior induced by lipopolysaccharide

- Cholinergic hypofunction mice are more susceptible to inflammation.
- Cholinergic hypofunction mice are more susceptible to sickness behavior.
- VAChT expression controls inflammatory and neural responses to LPS challenge.

In addition to the well-known functions as a neurotransmitter, acetylcholine (ACh) can modulate of the immune system. Nonetheless, how endogenous ACh release inflammatory responses is still not clear. To address this question, we took advantage of an animal model with a decreased ACh release due a reduction (knockdown) in vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) expression (VAChT-KDHOM). These animals were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Afterwards, we evaluated sickness behavior and quantified systemic and cerebral inflammation as well as neuronal activation in the dorsal vagal complex (DVC). VAChT-KDHOM mice that were injected with LPS (10 mg/kg) showed increased mortality rate as compared to control mice. In line with this result, a low dose of LPS (0.1 mg/kg) increased the levels of pro-inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines in the spleen and brain of VAChT-KDHOM mice in comparison with controls. Similarly, serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were increased in VAChT-KDHOM mice. This excessive cytokine production was completely prevented by administration of a nicotinic receptor agonist (0.4 mg/kg) prior to the LPS injection. Three hours after the LPS injection, c-Fos expression increased in the DVC region of VAChT-KDHOM mice compared to controls. In addition, VAChT-KDHOM mice showed behavioral changes such as lowered locomotor and exploratory activity and reduced social interaction after the LPS challenge, when compared to control mice. Taken together, our results show that the decreased ability to release ACh exacerbates systemic and cerebral inflammation and promotes neural activation and behavioral changes induced by LPS. In conclusion, our findings support the notion that activity of cholinergic pathways, which can be modulated by VAChT expression, controls inflammatory and neural responses to LPS challenge.