Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in addition to its role in the immune system has the potential to modulate several brain functions including learning and memory processes. In the present study we investigated the role of IL-6 in CNS function in male mice not expressing IL-6 (C57BL/6J IL6-/-tm 1 Kopf) and wild type mice (WT) used as controls. The animals were kept in standard conditions with water and food available ad libitum except during experiments. All testing took place between 8.30 AM and 12.30 PM. Each group consisted of 13 animals. In order to evaluate a role of endogenous IL-6 in cognitive functions “object recognition test” for the evaluation of recognition memory was used. In an attempt to evaluate whether observed effect was memory specifi c, the level of anxiety and psychomotor activity of mice was evaluated in an “elevated plus maze” test and in an open fi eld, respectively. Recognition memory, measured by the difference in exploration of the new object and a duplicate of the familiar one, presented 1 h earlier, was impaired in IL-6 defi cient mice. Moreover, lack of IL-6 signifi cantly attenuated locomotor and exploratory activity measured in an open fi eld test and enhanced anxiety evaluated in an “elevated plus maze” test. Results of this study indicate that IL-6 defi ciency impairs recognition memory, attenuates locomotor and exploratory activity and enhances anxiety in mice. The study was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science grant Nr 2P05B01826.
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