{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,20]],"date-time":"2026-09-20T05:16:43Z","timestamp":1789881403512,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"The Endocrine Society","issue":"7","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,7,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Interleukin (IL)-6 is a potent activator of the human hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. After chronic administration of IL-6 in humans, there is a substantial elevation of cortisol, whereas ACTH levels are blunted. Thus, we investigated whether IL-6 and\/or the IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) are expressed in the human adrenal gland and whether IL-6 could cause the release of steroid hormones by a direct action on adrenal cells in primary culture. The expression of IL-6 and IL-6R was investigated with RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, and the effects on human adrenal steroidogenesis were tested with IL-6 in vitro. To avoid effects mediated by macrophages, we depleted adrenal primary cultures from macrophages using specific mouse antihuman CD68 and sheep antimouse IgG conjugated magnetic beads. The results showed that: 1) IL-6 and IL-6R are expressed in adrenal cell cultures, including all cell types and those depleted of macrophages; 2) IL-6R is mainly expressed in the zona reticularis and the inner zona fasciculata; positive signals from the zona glomerulosa and the medulla occurred in single cells; and 3) IL-6 regulates adrenal synthesis of mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, and androgens in vitro, dependent on time and dose, in the absence of macrophages. After 24 h, aldosterone secretion increased to 172 \u00b1 28% sem, cortisol to 177 \u00b1 27% sem, and dehydroepiandrosterone to 153 \u00b1 20% sem of basal secretion. These findings, in combination with previous investigations, suggest that IL-6 exerts its acute action via the hypothalamus and the pituitary. In the adrenal gland, however, IL-6 seems to be a long-term regulator of stress response, integrating the responses of all cortical zones to stimuli from the immune and endocrine system.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1210\/jcem.82.7.4072","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,1,8]],"date-time":"2014-01-08T17:02:00Z","timestamp":1389200520000},"page":"2343-2349","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Interleukin-6 and the Interleukin-6 Receptor in the Human Adrenal Gland: Expression and Effects on Steroidogenesis1"],"prefix":"10.1210","volume":"82","author":[{"given":"Gu\u0308nter","family":"Pa\u0308th","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefan R.","family":"Bornstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Monika","family":"Ehrhart-Bornstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Werner A.","family":"Scherbaum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"80","reference":[{"key":"2020071618331319900_R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1182\/blood.V74.1.1.1","article-title":"The biology of interleukin-6.","volume":"74","year":"1989","journal-title":"Blood"},{"key":"2020071618331319900_R2","first-page":"1","article-title":"Network of immunoneuroendocrine interactions.","volume":"27","author":"Besedovsky","year":"1977","journal-title":"Clin Exp Immunol"},{"key":"2020071618331319900_R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1246","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJM199310213291708","article-title":"Neuroendocrine-immune interactions.","volume":"329","year":"1993","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"2020071618331319900_R4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1530\/eje.0.1300032","article-title":"Endocrine-paracrine interaction in communication between the immune and endocrine systems. 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