FIGURE 3.

Injection of RU486, a GR antagonist, and adrenalectomy sensitize SPRET/Ei mice to LPS and completely abolish the LPS resistance of SPRET/Ei. A, shown is survival of C57BL/6 and SPRET/Ei mice after LPS (5 μg) challenge. Both mouse strains were divided in three groups of which one was treated with DMSO (control) and the other with 5 mg of RU486, and the third group was adrenalectomized. Mortality was monitored for 30 h (no further deaths occurred). Black square, LPS control C57BL/6 (n = 4); gray square, LPS/RU486 (RU)-treated C57BL/6 (n = 5); □, LPS/adx C57BL/6 (n = 9); filled circle, LPS control SPRET/Ei (n = 3); gray circle, LPS/RU486-treated SPRET/Ei (n = 4); ○, LPS/adx SPRET/Ei (n = 5). B, IL-6 concentration in serum after injection of 100 μg of LPS in DMSO-treated, RU486-treated, and adx C57BL/6 (black bars; n = 4 in each group) and SPRET/Ei (white bars; n = 4 in each group) mice is shown. C and D, shown is relative mRNA expression of two pro-inflammatory cytokines (Il-1β, left graph; IFNγ, right graph; C) and two GR-inducible genes (Tsc22d3, left graph; Dusp1, right graph; D). These levels were determined using qPCR analysis of liver samples of DMSO-treated, RU486-treated, and adx C57BL/6 (black bars; n = 4 in each group) and SPRET/Ei mice (white bars; n = 4 per group) after challenge with 100 μg of LPS. Significance was calculated for differences between C57BL/6 and SPRET/Ei. NS, no significant difference.