Dopamine is an immunoregulatory molecule, modulating the functions of rodent macrophages as well as human T-cells, in addition to its role as a neurotransmitter. Its effects on human macrophages and microglia had not been well characterized. We hypothesized that in the CNS of drug abusers or others with increased extracellular dopamine, dopamine–mediated changes in macrophage or microglial function would alter the development of neuroinflammation and the progression of several neurological diseases. We therefore determined whether human primary MDM express dopamine receptors and the dopaminergic machinery to respond to, synthesize, and take up dopamine. We showed that MDM express mRNA for all DR, as well as for DAT, VMAT2, TH and AADC. We demonstrated that MDM express D3R and D4R as well as DAT on the cell surface, VMAT2 on cellular membranes, and TH and AADC. We also showed that dopamine modulates the secretion of cytokines in both untreated and LPS-treated MDM. These findings indicate that macrophages express the proteins needed to respond to dopamine and that dopamine modulates macrophage functions.
Macrophages in the CNS in close proximity to neurons [
52] are likely to be exposed to dopamine during spillover from the releasing synapse into the extrasynaptic space [
53,
54]. Extracellular dopamine concentrations in the human brain are not well characterized, but in rats the basal levels are estimated to be between 10 and 30 nM [
4,
54] and can be increased to 250 nM with a single electrical stimulus [
3]. In both rodent and primate models, cocaine and methamphetamine increase extracellular dopamine in different regions of the brain [
1,
2,
55] and studies using cyclic voltammetry measured drug-induced dopamine flux to be as high as 500 nM - 5

μM [
56-
58]. To model the effects of dopamine on macrophages in the brains of drug abusers and others with increased CNS dopamine, the concentrations of dopamine used in this study range from 20 nM to 20

μM. We previously demonstrated that 20

μM dopamine increases HIV replication in human macrophages [
49]. Many other studies showed that dopamine concentrations within this range modulate different functions in rodent macrophages and microglia, as well as in human T cells [
17-
24]. Dopamine mediates its effects primarily through activation of DR on the PM [
30], although other dopamine mediated signaling pathways have been suggested by studies in rodent macrophages [
22]. Dopamine receptor mRNA or protein was shown on rodent microglia [
19] and human T-cells [
20,
40,
59]. In T-cells, specific DR were shown to effect cytokine secretion [
20], activation of regulatory T-cells [
17] or β1 integrin function [
21]. In human macrophages DR subtypes had not been fully characterized. Our study shows that primary human macrophages have mRNA for all five subtypes of DR and express D3R and D4R in the PM. Our previous work showed MDM express D1R and D2R on the cell surface and showed specific activation of D2-like DR induces MAP kinase signaling [
49]. Another study showed D1R in human macrophages [
60], although its localization was not characterized. These studies demonstrate that DR are expressed on the surface of human macrophages and suggest that distinct DR subtypes may differentially modulate macrophage functions.
The effects of dopamine can also be regulated by DAT, VMAT2, TH and AADC. Our data show that primary human MDM express these proteins,. The dopamine transporter is localized to the PM and VMAT2 is in cellular membranes. Whether these proteins have a role in macrophage function is still unclear, as DAT was not found in a rodent macrophage cell line [
61], while VMAT2 was expressed in promyelocytic human U937 cells but not in monocytic THP-1 cells [
46,
48]. However, functional DAT is expressed in human T-cells [
62-
64]. Tyrosine hydroxylase was detected in rodent macrophages [
65], human T-cells [
17] and human macrophages from arthritic tissue, although not in macrophages from non-arthritic controls [
48], while AADC was found in human U937 cells and human T-cells [
38,
47]. Dopamine production has not been characterized in human macrophages, but low amounts of dopamine are synthesized in rodent macrophages [
65,
66] and human PBMC [
17,
40,
67], and AADC in U937 cells is enzymatically active [
47]. Dopamine uptake in human macrophages has also not been studied, but dopamine has been detected in cytoplasmic vesicles of human U937 cells and in rodent macrophages [
66,
67]. Together with our data, these studies suggest that human macrophages may take up, store, and synthesize dopamine, but the functional consequences of these actions remain unclear. In human CD4+/CD25+ regulatory T-cells, dopamine release and reuptake regulates an autocrine/paracrine loop through activation of D1-like DR to regulate IL-10 and TGF-β production [
17].
Our data show that dopamine also regulates IL-10 production in MDM, suggesting dopamine synthesis and/or dopamine uptake, storage and release may participate in regulation of macrophage cytokine production. Our data demonstrate that dopamine treatment alters macrophage production of IL-6, CCL2, TNF-α, CXCL8 and IL-10. We found that 2 and 20

μM dopamine significantly modulated secretion of all cytokines examined, while lower concentrations (20 and 200 nM) only altered TNF-α, IL-6 and CCL2 production by LPS-treated MDM. Lower concentrations of dopamine also showed a trend towards modulation of both IL-6 in untreated MDM and IL-10 in LPS treated MDM, but these effects were not significant. Dopaminergic modulation of cytokines has been shown in both rodent macrophages [
18,
22] and human T-cells [
20,
68] using similar concentrations of dopamine or using DR agonists. One study showed significant decreases in IL-2, IL-4 and IFN-γ production from anti-CD3 activated human T-cells at lower dopamine levels (5–25 nM) [
43]. The trend towards higher concentrations of dopamine being needed to induce significant cytokine secretion suggests that dopamine concentrations must be elevated above physiological levels to alter macrophage cytokine secretion.
Treatment of macrophages with LPS was used to model inflammatory conditions within the CNS. The effects of dopamine on LPS-treated macrophages indicate that macrophages in an inflammatory environment may respond differently to dopamine than do macrophages in homeostatic conditions. Elevated levels of LPS during HIV infection [
69], and in individuals with HIV-associated dementia [
70], suggest that macrophages in people with NeuroAIDS may respond differently to dopamine due to LPS-mediated activation. In our study, CXCL8 was signifcantly increased by dopamine treatment of LPS-treated MDM but was unaffected by dopamine in untreated cells. In contrast, treatment with 2 and 20

μM dopamine increased IL-6 2-to-3 fold in untreated cells, but increased IL-6 only 1.5 fold, and only at 200 nM dopamine, in LPS-treated macrophages. These data suggest that LPS activation of MDM primes the cells to respond differently to dopamine than non-LPS treated cells. Further investigation of changes in dopamine–mediated modulation of macrophage functions in response to inflammatory stimuli is an area of ongoing research. Dopamine mediated changes in cytokines have important implications for neuroinflammation. Elevated levels of CCL2 and CXCL8 may result in recruitment of peripheral blood monocytes, T-cells and neutrophils [
71,
72], increased blood brain barrier permeability [
72,
73] and altered migration of CNS cells [
74]. Increases in IL-6, CCL2 and CXCL8 are associated with activation of perivascular macrophages and glia, and with the development of neurological diseases such as HAND, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinsons’s or Huntington’s disease, and multiple sclerosis [
26,
75-
78].
Changes in cytokine production may also be beneficial, as decreases in TNF-α and increases in both IL-10 and CCL2 could limit neuroinflammation or be neuroprotective, depending on the kinetics and localization of their expression. For example, in Parkinson’s disease, in which TNF-α plays a central role in the loss of dopaminergic neurons [
79], decreases in this cytokine could reduce neuronal toxicity and slow disease progression [
80]. Increases in CCL2 inhibit HIV-Tat induced apoptosis in neurons and astrocytes [
81] and increased IL-10 facilitates neuronal recovery after traumatic brain injury by reducing inflammatory cytokine production [
82]. Thus, changes in CNS dopamine which modulate macrophage secretion of the cytokines examined in this study may alter the CNS response to injury and infection, and significantly affect the pathogenesis of several neurological diseases [
25,
75,
83].