Interleukin-23 as a therapeutic target for inflammatory myopathy

Current treatments of polymyositis and dermatomyositis (PM/DM) depend on non-specific immunosuppressants. This study was performed to elucidate the role of interleukin (IL)-23, as their possible therapeutic target. As was reported earlier in PM/DM patients, serum IL-23 levels were elevated in mice with C protein induced-myositis (CIM), a murine model of PM. IL-23 was expressed by macrophages in the PM/DM and CIM muscles and by dendritic cells and macrophages in the lymph nodes from the CIM mice. It was also expressed by macrophages in the chemically injured muscles, but not those recruited into the muscles by footpad injection of Freund’s complete adjuvant, demonstrating that IL-23 production should be associated with muscle damage. Genetic deletion of IL-23 as well as preventive and therapeutic administration of blocking antibodies against IL-23p19 subunit suppressed CIM. When lymph node cells from the CIM mice were transferred adoptively into naive wild type or IL-23p19 deficient recipient mice, both recipients developed myositis equally. Thus, elevated IL-23 should promote dendritic cells and macrophages to activate the autoaggressive T cells. Our findings suggest that IL-23 should mediate positive feedback loop from the muscle damage to the T cell activation and be a promising therapeutic target for autoimmune myositis.