Administration of IL-1 results in a profound and long-lasting hypoglycemia. Here, we show that this effect can be elicited by endogenous IL-1 and is related to not only the capacity of the cytokine to increase glucose uptake in peripheral tissues but also to mechanisms integrated in the brain. We show that (i) blockade of IL-1 receptors in the brain partially counteracted IL-1-induced hypoglycemia; (ii) peripheral administration or induction of IL-1 production resulted in IL-1 gene expression in the hypothalamus of normal and insulin-resistant, leptin receptor-deficient, diabetic db͞db mice; (iii) IL-1-treated normal and db͞db mice challenged with glucose did not return to their initial glucose levels but remained hypoglycemic for several hours. This effect was largely antagonized by blockade of IL-1 receptors in the brain; and (iv) when animals with an advanced Type II diabetes were treated with IL-1 and challenged with glucose, they died in hypoglycemia. However, when IL-1 receptors in the brains of these diabetic mice were blocked, they survived, and glucose blood levels approached those that these mice had before IL-1 administration. The prolonged hypoglycemic effect of IL-1 is insulin-independent and develops against increased levels of glucocorticoids, catecholamines, and glucagon. These findings, together with the present demonstration that this effect is integrated in the brain and is paralleled by IL-1 expression in the hypothalamus, indicate that this cytokine can reset glucose homeostasis at central levels. Such reset, along with the peripheral actions of the cytokine, would favor glucose uptake by immune cells during inflammatory͞ immune processes.T here is evidence that immune-derived cytokines can mediate metabolic alterations during the course of infective, inflammatory, autoimmune, and neoplastic processes (1-4), either by acting locally or by interacting with different endocrine mechanisms (2, 3, 5). Under physiological conditions, glucose is the principal and most readily available source of energy. When IL-1, a prototypic proinflammatory cytokine, is administered to mice, a profound and long-lasting hypoglycemia is observed. The hypoglycemic effect of IL-1 is not mediated by insulin, because it is clearly observed in insulin-resistant diabetic mice and rats; is not caused by glucose loss; and is independent from the anorexic effect of the cytokine (6-12). IL-1-induced hypoglycemia might be explained by the capacity of this cytokine to stimulate glucose uptake in vitro in a variety of tissues such as adipose cells (13), fibroblasts (14), articular chondrocytes (15), keratinocytes (16), intestinal macrophages (17), peritoneal mesothelial cells (18), and glial cells (19). Studies in vivo also show that overproduction of IL-1 results in increased 2-deoxyglucose uptake in all tissues tested, including lymphoid organs and the brain (20). Several of the mentioned in vitro studies on the effect of IL-1 on glucose transport have been performed by using human cells, and injection of very low doses of...