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Pro-inflammatory cytokines can affect cognitive processes such as learning and memory. Particularly, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) influences the consolidation of hippocampus-dependent memories. We previously reported that administration of IL-1β in dorsal hippocampus impaired contextual fear memory consolidation. Different mechanisms have been implicated in the action of IL-1β on long-term potentiation (LTP), but the processes by which this inhibition occurs in vivo remain to be elucidated. We herein report that intrahippocampal injection of IL-1β induced a significant increase in p38 phosphorylation after contextual fear conditioning. Also, treatment with SB203580, an inhibitor of p38, reversed impairment induced by IL-1β on conditioned fear behavior, indicating that this MAPK would be involved in the effect of the cytokine. We also showed that IL-1β administration produced a decrease in glutamate release from …