Lipopolysaccharide binding protein enhances the responsiveness of alveolar macrophages to bacterial lipopolysaccharide. Implications for cytokine production in normal and injured lungs (original) (raw)

Lung Inflammation Induced by Lipoteichoic Acid or Lipopolysaccharide in Humans

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2008

Rationale: Recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) is considered to be important for an appropriate immune response against pathogens that enter the lower airways. Objectives: We studied the effects of two different TLR agonists relevant for respiratory infections in the human lung: lipoteichoic acid (LTA; TLR2 agonist, component of gram-positive bacteria) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS; TLR4-agonist, component of gram-negative bacteria). Methods: Fifteen healthy subjects were given LPS or LTA: by bronchoscope, sterile saline was instilled into a lung segment followed by instillation of LTA or LPS into the contralateral lung. After 6 hours, a bronchoalveolar lavage was performed and inflammatory parameters were determined. Isolated RNA from purified alveolar macrophages was analyzed by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification. In addition, spontaneous cytokine release by alveolar macrophages was measured. Measurements and Main Results: Marked differences were detected between LTA-and LPS-induced lung inflammation. Whereas both elicited neutrophil recruitment, only LPS instillation was associated with activation of neutrophils (CD11b surface expression, degranulation product levels) and consistent rises of chemo-/cytokine levels. Moreover, LPS but not LTA activated alveolar macrophages, as reflected by enhanced expression of 10 different mRNAs encoding proinflammatory mediators and increased spontaneous cytokine release upon incubation ex vivo. Remarkably, only LTA induced C5a release. Conclusions: This is the first study to report the in vivo effects of LTA in men and to compare inflammation induced by LTA and LPS in the human lung. Our data suggest that stimulation of TLR2 or TLR4 results in differential pulmonary inflammation, which may be of relevance for understanding pathogenic mechanisms at play during gram-positive and gram-negative respiratory tract infection.

Lack of IL-10 synthesis by murine alveolar macrophages upon lipopolysaccharide exposure. Comparison with peritoneal macrophages

Journal of leukocyte biology, 2000

The central role of alveolar macrophages in the establishment of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung inflammation is well demonstrated. They produce and release numerous proinflammatory molecules, among which is tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), a cytokine responsible in part for the neutrophilic alveolitis. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) produced by LPS-activated mononuclear phagocytes is a major anti-inflammatory cytokine that down-regulates TNF-alpha synthesis. We studied the ability of murine alveolar macrophages to produce IL-10 in vivo and in vitro, in response to LPS. Unexpectedly, the IL-10 protein was not detected in the whole lung and airspaces after LPS intranasal instillation. In addition, no IL-10 protein was found in supernatants of isolated and LPS-stimulated alveolar macrophages. The lack of IL-10 synthesis was confirmed by the absence of specific RNA transcripts. By contrast and as expected, autologous peritoneal macrophages produced IL-10 upon LPS challenge. Drugs...

The Systemic and Pulmonary LPS Binding Protein Response to Intratracheal Lipopolysaccharide

Shock, 2009

LPS binding protein (LBP) is an acute-phase glycoprotein that facilitates LPS activation of immune cells through interactions with CD14 and Toll-like receptor 4. Initially, LBP production was thought to occur exclusively in the liver in response to stimulation with TNF-!, IL-1, and IL-6. More recently, it has been shown that type II pneumocytes are also capable of LBP production. Little is known, however, regarding the regulation and or distribution of this protein in response to localized intrapulmonary infection. We performed time-course experiments challenging C3H mice intratracheally with LPS (10 2g). In separate experiments, mice deficient in IL-6 were given the same dose of intratracheal LPS and euthanized 8 h later. Despite the intratracheal route of LPS administration, an increase in plasma LBP concentrations occurred earlier and was of greater magnitude than the increase observed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Liver LBP mRNA increased to a greater extent than did lung LBP mRNA. Whereas the TNF-! response remained localized within the alveolar space, IL-6 was increased both locally and in plasma. Of several tissues analyzed, the lung was the greatest producer of IL-6 mRNA. Plasma LBP was significantly decreased in the IL-6Ydeficient mice compared with wildtype controls challenged with intratracheal LPS. We conclude that lung-derived IL-6 is an important mediator of hepatic LBP up-regulation. We speculate that the disruption of these lung-liver signaling pathways may be important to host response efforts to confine infection to the lung. If impaired, this may be one mechanism underlying the increased mortality observed in patients with liver disease who develop pneumonia.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced Lung Injury in Mice. I. Concomitant Evaluation of Inflammatory Cells and Haemorrhagic Lung Damage

Pulmonary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2000

Intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces an inflammatory response characterized by infiltration of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) into the extracellular matrix and by the release of mediators that play a fundamental role in lung damage. In the present study, we developed a mouse model which allows correlation of the inflammatory response and haemorrhagic tissue injury in the same animal. In particular, the different steps of the inflammatory response and tissue damage were evaluated by the analysis of three parameters: myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in the parenchyma, reflecting PMNs accumulation into the lung, inflammatory cells count in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), reflecting their extravasation, and total haemoglobin estimation in BALF, a marker of haemorrhagic tissue damage consequent to PMNs degranulation. In our experimental conditions, intra-tracheal administration of 10 g/mouse of LPS evoked an increase of MPO activity in the lung at 4 h (131%) and 6 h (147%) from endotoxin challenge. A significant increase of PMNs in the BALF was noticed at these times with a plateau between the 12nd and 24th h. PMN accumulation produced a time-dependent haemorrhagic lung damage until 24 h after LPS injection (4 h: +38%; 6 h: +23%; 12 h: +44%; 24 h: +129% increase of haemoglobin concentration in the BALF vs. control). Lung injury was also assessed histopathologically. Twenty-four hours after the challenge, diffuse alveolar haemorrhage, as well as PMN recruitment in the interstitium and alveolus were observed in the LPS group. This model was pharmacologically characterized by pretreatment of LPS-treated mice with antiinflammatory drugs acting on different steps of the 'inflammatory cascade'. We demonstrated that: a) betamethasone (1, 3, 10, 30 mg/kg po) reduced in a dose-dependent manner the MPO activity, the number of inflammatory cells and, at the same time, lung injury; b) pentoxifylline, a TNF production inhibitor (200 mg/kg ip), inhibited PMN extravasation and lung haemorrhage but it was not able to reduce MPO activity in the lung; c) L-680,833, an anti-elastase compound (30 mg/kg po), decreased significantly only the haemorrhagic lung damage; d) indomethacin, a non steroidal antiinflammatory drug (5 mg/kg po), did not show any effect on any of the parameters considered. In conclusion, our in vivo mouse model is a practical alternative to animal models of ARDS (Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome) recently described and it permits to dissect and to characterize the different steps of PMNs infiltration and, at the same time, the damage caused by their activation.

Differential Regulation of Cytokine Release and Leukocyte Migration by Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Primary Human Lung Alveolar Type II Epithelial Cells and Macrophages

The Journal of Immunology, 2006

Bacterial colonization is a secondary feature of many lung disorders associated with elevated cytokine levels and increased leukocyte recruitment. We hypothesized that, alongside macrophages, the epithelium would be an important source of these mediators. We investigated the effect of LPS (0, 10, 100, and 1000 ng/ml LPS, up to 24 h) on primary human lung macrophages and alveolar type II epithelial cells (ATII; isolated from resected lung tissue). Although macrophages produced higher levels of the cytokines TNF-␣ and IL-1␤ (p < 0.0001), ATII cells produced higher levels of chemokines MCP-1, IL-8, and growth-related oncogene ␣ (p < 0.001), in a time-and concentration-dependent manner. Macrophage (but not ATII cell) responses to LPS required activation of ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK signaling cascades; phosphorylated ERK1/2 was constitutively up-regulated in ATII cells. Blocking Abs to TNF-␣ and IL-1␤ during LPS exposure showed that ATII cell (not macrophage) MCP-1 release depended on the autocrine effects of IL-1␤ and TNF-␣ (p < 0.003, 24 h). ATII cell release of IL-6 depended on autocrine effects of TNF-␣ (p < 0.006, 24 h). Macrophage IL-6 release was most effectively inhibited when both TNF-␣ and IL-1␤ were blocked (p < 0.03, 24 h). Conditioned media from ATII cells stimulated more leukocyte migration in vitro than conditioned media from macrophages (p < 0.0002). These results show differential activation of cytokine and chemokine release by ATII cells and macrophages following LPS exposure. Activated alveolar epithelium is an important source of chemokines that orchestrate leukocyte migration to the peripheral lung; early release of TNF-␣ and IL-1␤ by stimulated macrophages may contribute to alveolar epithelial cell activation and chemokine production.

Differential regulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activation pathways in mouse macrophages by LPS-binding proteins

Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 1998

LPS binding to its receptor(s) on macrophages induces the synthesis of inflammatory mediators involved in septic shock. While the signaling mechanism(s) remains to be fully defined, the human LPS-binding protein (LBP) is known to regulate responses to LPS by facilitating its binding to CD14 on human monocytes. The structurally related bactericidal permeability increasing protein (BPI) differs from LBP by inhibiting LPS-induced human monocyte activation. We have demonstrated that, unlike the human monocyte response to LPS, both LBP and BPI inhibited LPS-stimulated TNF-alpha production in mouse peritoneal macrophages. In contrast, LPS-dependent nitric oxide release was not affected by LBP. LPS induces the phosphorylation of a number of proteins in a dose and time-dependent manner, however, the pattern of LPS-induced phosphorylation was not reduced by either LBP or BPI under conditions that result in selective TNF-alpha inhibition. Further, activation of the transcription factor NF-kap...

Mechanisms of the lipopolysaccharide‑induced inflammatory response in alveolar epithelial cell/macrophage co‑culture

Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 2020

The interaction between alveolar epithelial cells (EpCs) and macrophages (MPs) serves an important role in initiating and maintaining inflammation in chronic pulmonary diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the inflammatory response in co-cultured EpCs and MPs. Briefly, a co-culture system of A549 (EpCs) and THP-1 (monocyte/MPs) cells was established in a filter-separated Transwell plate to evaluate the inflammatory response.

Acute Pulmonary Lipopolysaccharide Tolerance Decreases TNF- without Reducing Neutrophil Recruitment

The Journal of Immunology, 2008

Pulmonary LPS exposure plays a key role in exacerbation of lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. However, little is known about the effects of repeated LPS exposure in the lung microenvironment. We have developed a novel murine model of pulmonary LPS tolerance induced by intratracheal (i.t.) administration of LPS. First, we show that pulmonary LPS exposure does not induce whole-body refractoriness to systemic LPS, because i.t. administration followed by i.p. administration did not decrease plasma TNF-␣. However, a local refractory state can be induced with two i.t. LPS exposures. Pulmonary LPS tolerance was induced by i.t. administration of 100 ng LPS at time 0 and 48 h. Nontolerant mice received PBS at time 0 and LPS at 48 h. Bronchoalveolar lavage levels of TNF-␣ were significantly attenuated in tolerant mice vs nontolerant mice (1597 pg/ml vs 7261 pg/ml). TNF-␣ mRNA was significantly reduced in bronchoalveolar lavage cells (5-fold) and lung tissue (10-fold). No reduction was seen in neutrophil numbers in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, myeloperoxidase activity, or expression of neutrophil chemoattractants CXCL1 and CXCL2, reflecting the specificity of the response. The reduction in TNF-␣ was accompanied by a significant increase in soluble receptors, TNF-SRI (159 pg/ml vs 206 pg/ml) and TNF-SRII (1366 pg/m vs 2695 pg/ml). In conclusion, pulmonary LPS tolerance results in a specific reduction in TNF-␣ expression, while the neutrophilic response is unaffected. This response may be a mechanism to limit tissue damage by reducing TNF-␣ levels, while still maintaining the antimicrobial capacity of the lung.