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Infection and Immunity, October 2005, p. 6488-6492, Vol. 73, No. 10
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.10.6488-6492.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Improved Resistance to Bacterial Superinfection in Mice by Treatment with Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor

Institute of Immunology, University of Regensburg, D-93042 Regensburg, Germany

Received 10 March 2005/ Returned for modification 2 May 2005/ Accepted 22 June 2005

Nosocomial infections in immune-suppressed patients are a widespread problem in intensive care medicine. Such patients are highly susceptible to infections because their immune defenses are impaired and, therefore, unable to adequately combat invading microorganisms. To investigate the problem of sepsis-induced immune suppression, we used a model in which mice developed sublethal peritonitis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Two days after CLP mice were in an immune-suppressed state, as measured by impaired capacity to produce tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and enhanced susceptibility to bacterial infections. Since macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a critical mediator of septic shock by modulation of innate immune responses, the role of MIF in sepsis-induced immune suppression was analyzed. Neutralization of endogenous MIF further enhanced susceptibility to bacterial superinfection after CLP. Conversely, treatment with recombinant human MIF before the bacterial superinfection protected the animals. MIF treatment reconstituted the impaired capacity to produce proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF and interleukin-6. This study indicates that MIF might be able to ameliorate the sepsis-induced immune suppression by reenabling the organism to react adequately to a secondary bacterial challenge.

Editor: F. C. Fang