Lipopolysaccharide differentially alters systemic and brain glucocorticoid levels in neonatal and adult mice

We treated male and female C57BL/6J mice at postnatal day 5 (PND5) or PND90 with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 50 µg/kg bw i.p.) or vehicle and collected blood and brain after 4 hr. We microdissected the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and amygdala. We measured 7 steroids, including corticosterone, via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and measured transcripts for key steroidogenic enzymes and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis components (Cyp11b1, Hsd11b1, Hsd11b2, Crh, Crhr1, Pomc) via qPCR.