Coagulation of Whole Blood Stimulates Interleukin-1 Gene Expression

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Abstract
To study interleukin (IL)-1β gene expression, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used on 25-µL whole blood samples from 11 healthy subjects. Coagulated and unclotted whole blood was compared. There was no evidence of IL.1β gene expression in any time zero samples (i.e., whole blood from which mRNA was immediately extracted) from 11 subjects, whereas a 388-bp band representing IL-1β mRNA was detected in all coagulated samples. No mRNA for IL-1β was detected in EDTA-anticoagulated whole blood, although in these samples the addition of lipopolysaccharide as a positive control induced the expression of IL-1β. In time course studies on samples allowed to clot, mRNA for IL-1β was detectable after 30 min. These findings demonstrate that IL-1β gene expression is not present in circulating cells of healthy subjects and that coagulation is a stimulus for IL-1β gene expression. This may be a mechanism by which thrombosis produces inflammation and fever.

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