NPY and colitis: For instance, mice with DSS-induced colitis are more anxious and less socially interactive than control mice, and these disturbances occur in parallel with increased circulating IL-6, IL-18, and NPY levels as well as with altered Npy, Bdnf, Cox-2, and Mineralocorticoid receptor gene expression in the brain, which points to an involvement of inflammatory and stress mechanisms in the behavioral perturbations (263).