Voltammetry in the spleen assesses real-time immunomodulatory norepinephrine release elicited by autonomic neurostimulation

BACKGROUND: The noradrenergic innervation of the spleen is implicated in the autonomic control of inflammation and has been the target of neurostimulation therapies for inflammatory diseases. However, there is no real-time marker of its successful activation, which hinders the development of anti-inflammatory neurostimulation therapies and mechanistic studies in anti-inflammatory neural circuits. METHODS: In mice, we performed fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) in the spleen during intravenous injections of norepinephrine (NE), and during stimulation of the vagus, splanchnic, or splenic nerves. We defined the stimulus-elicited charge generated at the oxidation potential for NE (~ 0.88 V) as the “NE voltammetry signal” and quantified the dependence of the signal on NE dose and intensity of neurostimulation. We correlated the NE voltammetry signal with the anti-inflammatory effect of splenic nerve stimulation (SpNS) in a model of lipopolysaccharide- (LPS) induced endotoxemia, quantified as suppression of TNF release. RESULTS: The NE voltammetry signal is proportional to the estimated peak NE blood concentration, with 0.1 μg/mL detection threshold. In response to SpNS, the signal increases within seconds, returns to baseline minutes later, and is blocked by interventions that deplete NE or inhibit NE release. The signal is elicited by efferent, but not afferent, electrical or optogenetic vagus nerve stimulation, and by splanchnic nerve stimulation. The magnitude of the signal during SpNS is inversely correlated with subsequent TNF suppression in endotoxemia and explains 40% of the variance in TNF measurements. CONCLUSIONS: FSCV in the spleen provides a marker for real-time monitoring of anti-inflammatory activation of the splenic innervation during autonomic stimulation. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12974-023-02902-x.