A role for reactive oxygen species in endotoxin-induced elevation of MOR expression in the nervous and immune systems

This study examined the mechanism by which exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) alters mu-opioid receptor (MOR) expression in immune and neuronal cells using an in vitro conditioned medium model system. We found that LPS stimulated the intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and MOR expression in macrophage-like TPA-HL-60 cells. Conditioned medium from the LPS-stimulated TPA-HL-60 cells increased MOR expression in SH-SY5Y cells, a neuronal cell model, through actions mediated by TNF-α and GM-CSF. These data suggest that the endotoxin, LPS, modulates MOR expression in nervous and immune cells via ROS signaling, and demonstrates the crosstalk that exists within the neuroimmune axis.