Endogenous IL-33 Deficiency Exacerbates Liver Injury and Increases Hepatic Influx of Neutrophils in Acute Murine Viral Hepatitis

Mediators Inflamm. 2017:2017:1359064. doi: 10.1155/2017/1359064. Epub 2017 May 4.

Abstract

The alarmin IL-33 has been described to be upregulated in human and murine viral hepatitis. However, the role of endogenous IL-33 in viral hepatitis remains obscure. We aimed to decipher its function by infecting IL-33-deficient mice (IL-33 KO) and their wild-type (WT) littermates with pathogenic mouse hepatitis virus (L2-MHV3). The IL-33 KO mice were more sensitive to L2-MHV3 infection exhibiting higher levels of AST/ALT, higher tissue damage, significant weight loss, and earlier death. An increased depletion of B and T lymphocytes, NKT cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages was observed 48 h postinfection (PI) in IL-33 KO mice than that in WT mice. In contrast, a massive influx of neutrophils was observed in IL-33 KO mice at 48 h PI. A transcriptomic study of inflammatory and cell-signaling genes revealed the overexpression of IL-6, TNFα, and several chemokines involved in recruitment/activation of neutrophils (CXCL2, CXCL5, CCL2, and CCL6) at 72 h PI in IL-33 KO mice. However, the IFNγ was strongly induced in WT mice with less profound expression in IL-33 KO mice demonstrating that endogenous IL-33 regulated IFNγ expression during L2-MHV3 hepatitis. In conclusion, we demonstrated that endogenous IL-33 had multifaceted immunoregulatory effect during viral hepatitis via induction of IFNγ, survival effect on immune cells, and infiltration of neutrophils in the liver.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • B-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • Chemokine CCL2 / metabolism
  • Chemokine CXCL2 / metabolism
  • Chemokine CXCL5 / metabolism
  • Chemokines, CC / metabolism
  • Hepatitis / immunology*
  • Hepatitis / metabolism*
  • Interferon-gamma / metabolism
  • Interleukin-33 / deficiency
  • Interleukin-33 / metabolism*
  • Interleukin-6 / metabolism
  • Liver / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Neutrophils / metabolism*
  • T-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / metabolism

Substances

  • Chemokine CCL2
  • Chemokine CXCL2
  • Chemokine CXCL5
  • Chemokines, CC
  • Interleukin-33
  • Interleukin-6
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • Ccl6 protein, mouse
  • Interferon-gamma