Infect. Immun., Apr 1997, 1139-1146, Vol 65, No. 4
E Broug-Holub, GB Toews, JF van Iwaarden, RM Strieter, SL Kunkel, R Paine 3rd and TJ Standiford
To study the in vivo role of alveolar macrophages (AM) in gram-negative
bacterial pneumonia in mice, AM were eliminated by the intratracheal (i.t.)
administration of dichloromethylene diphosphonate encapsulated liposomes.
Subsequently, the AM-depleted mice were infected i.t. with 100 CFU of
Klebsiella pneumoniae, and the effects of AM depletion on survival,
bacterial clearance, and neutrophil (polymorphonuclear leukocyte [PMN])
recruitment were assessed. It was shown that depletion of AM decreases
survival dramatically, with 100% lethality at day 3 postinfection, versus
100% long-term survival in the control group. This increased mortality was
accompanied by 20- to 27- and 3- to 10- fold increases in the number of K.
pneumoniae CFU in lung and plasma, respectively, compared to those in
nondepleted animals. This decreased bacterial clearance was not due to an
impaired PMN recruitment; on the contrary, the K. pneumoniae-induced PMN
recruitment in AM-depleted lungs was sevenfold greater 48 h postinfection
than that in control infected lungs. Together with an increased PMN
infiltration, 3- and 10- fold increases in lung homogenate tumor necrosis
factor alpha (TNF- alpha) and macrophage inflammatory protein 2 (MIP-2)
levels, respectively, were measured. Neutralization of TNF-alpha or MIP-2,
2 h before infection, reduced the numbers of infiltrating PMN by 41.6 and
64.2%, respectively, indicating that these cytokines mediate PMN influx in
infected lungs, rather then just being produced by the recruited PMN
themselves. Our studies demonstrate, for the first time, the relative
importance of the AM in the containment and clearance of bacteria in the
setting of Klebsiella pneumonia.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
Alveolar macrophages are required for protective pulmonary defenses in murine Klebsiella pneumonia: elimination of alveolar macrophages increases neutrophil recruitment but decreases bacterial clearance and survival
Department of Cell Biology and Immunology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E.Holub.Cell@med.vu.nl
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