Interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α inhibit the release of [3H]-noradrenaline from mice isolated atria

In the present study, we have investigated the ability of four cytokines, interleukin-1β, interleukin-2, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α, to modulate the stimulation-induced outflow of radioactivity from isolated superfused mouse atria which where pre-incubated with [3H]-noradrenaline. The tissues were subjected twice to field stimulation (5 Hz frequency, 50 mA intensity, 2 ms pulses for 60 s) and the drugs were added prior to the second stimulation in order to assess their modulatory effects.