title: The role of interferon-γ in the pathogenesis of acute intra-abdominal sepsis.
abstract: Several studies indicate that IFN-γ facilitates systemic inflammation during endotoxin-induced shock. However, the pathobiology of IFN-γ in clinically relevant models of septic shock, such as CLP, is not well understood. In this study, the role of IFN-γ in the pathogenesis of CLP-induced septic shock was evaluated by examining IFN-γ production at the tissue and cellular levels. The impact of IFN-γ neutralization on systemic inflammation, bacterial clearance, and survival was also determined. Following CLP, concentrations of IFN-γ in plasma and peritoneal lavage fluid were low in comparison with concentrations of IL-6 and MIP-2, as was IFN-γ mRNA expression in liver and spleen. The overall percentage of IFN-γ+ splenocytes was <5% after CLP and not statistically different from control mice. Intracellular IFN-γ was present in a large proportion of peritoneal exudate cells after CLP, primarily in infiltrating myeloid cells and NK cells. i.p. myeloid cell activation was decreased in IFN-γKO mice, and plasma concentrations of IL-6 and MIP-2 were significantly lower in IFN-γKO mice and in mice treated with anti-IFN-γ compared with controls, but bacterial clearance was not affected. IFN-γKO mice were resistant to CLP-induced mortality when treated with systemic antibiotics. However, neutralization of IFN-γ with blocking antibodies did not improve survival significantly. These studies show that IFN-γ facilitates the proinflammatory response during CLP-induced septic shock. However, neutralization of IFN-γ did not improve survival uniformly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0591, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Daniela S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Herzig
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Etogo
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nunez
authors.forename: Rod
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahmoudizad
authors.forename: Geping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Murphey
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toliver-Kinsky
authors.forename: Edward R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Sherwood
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D018805:Sepsis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma