Lipoteichoic acid, a cell wall component of Gram-positive bacteria, induces sleep and fever and suppresses feeding.

ABSTRACT: Fragments of the bacterial cell wall are bioactive microbial molecules that have profound effects on the function of the brain. Some of the cell wall constituents are common to both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, e.g., peptidoglycans, while other cell wall components are specific to either Gram-positive or Gram-negative microbes. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), also called endotoxin, is found exclusively in Gram-negative bacteria, while lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is specific to Gram-positive bacteria. The effects of peptidoglycans, their fragments, and LPS are well characterized, they induce sleep, fever and anorexia. In the present study, we investigated the sleep, body temperature and food intake modulating effects of LTA. We found that intraperitoneal injection of 100 and 250 μg LTA f

SUBMITTER: Szentirmai E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7897295 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature