1. Interleukin-37 Ameliorates Influenza Pneumonia by Attenuating Macrophage Cytokine Production in a MAPK-Dependent Manner
- Author
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Feifei Qi, Mingya Liu, Fengdi Li, Qi Lv, Guanpeng Wang, Shuran Gong, Shunyi Wang, Yanfeng Xu, Linlin Bao, and Chuan Qin
- Subjects
Microbiology (medical) ,medicine.medical_treatment ,lcsh:QR1-502 ,viral pneumonia ,Inflammation ,Lung injury ,Microbiology ,lcsh:Microbiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Immune system ,medicine ,A/California/07/2009 (H1N1) ,030304 developmental biology ,Original Research ,Interleukin-37 ,0303 health sciences ,030306 microbiology ,business.industry ,Interleukin ,medicine.disease ,respiratory tract diseases ,macrophages ,Pneumonia ,Cytokine ,inflammation ,Viral pneumonia ,Immunology ,Macrophage cytokine production ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
Viral pneumonitis caused by influenza A (H1N1) virus leads to high levels of morbidity and mortality. Given the limited treatment options for severe influenza pneumonia, it is necessary to explore effective amelioration approaches. Interleukin-37 (IL-37) has been reported to inhibit excessive immune responses and protect against a variety of inflammatory diseases. In this study, by using BALB/c mice intranasally infected with A/California/07/2009 (H1N1), we found that IL-37 treatment increases the survival rate and body weight, and reduces the pulmonary index, impaired the lung injury and decreased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the BALF and lung tissue. Moreover, IL-37 administration enhanced not only the percentage of macrophages, but also the percentage of IL-18Rα+ macrophages, suggesting that enhancing the macrophages function may improve outcomes in a murine model of H1N1 infection. Indeed, macrophages depletion reduced the protective effect of IL-37 during H1N1 infection. Furthermore, IL-37 administration inhibited MAPK signaling in RAW264.7 cells infected with H1N1. This study demonstrates that IL-37 treatment can ameliorate influenza pneumonia by attenuating cytokine production, especially by macrophages. Thus, IL-37 might serve as a promising new target for the treatment of influenza A-induced pneumonia.
- Published
- 2019