Liver gene expression analysis of male and female C57BL/6 mice treated with glucocorticoid.

Glucocorticoids are widely used therapeutically to suppress inflammatory/immune responses and most of their effects are produced either by altering transcription of specific genes directly, or by altering the expression of transcription factors that subsequently alter the expression of downstream genes. Relevant data from previous studies indicate that the number of genes regulated by glucocorticoid receptor exceeds 4000 in cells and that 358 different genes are regulated in the liver of adrenalectomized males rats treated with a chronic infusion of methylprednisolone for up to 1 week . However, differences in gene expression between males and females in response to glucocorticoid treatment in a mouse model are not known. The animals (males and females adrenalectomized C57Bl/6 mice) were treated with vehicle or dexamethasone 1mg/Kg (i.p.) and 6 hours later the liver will be harvested to RNA extraction using the Qiagen RNEASY midi kit . The study was performed with 3 biological replicates: 3 control males; 3 control females, 3 dexamethasone treated males and 3 dexamethasone treated females.