PUBLICATION

Carbon Monoxide and Heme Oxygenase-1 Prevent Intestinal Inflammation in Mice by Promoting Bacterial Clearance

Authors
Onyiah, J.C., Sheikh, S.Z., Maharshak, N., Steinbach, E.C., Russo, S.M., Kobayashi, T., Mackey, L.C., Hansen, J.J., Moeser, A.J., Rawls, J.F., Borst, L.B., Otterbein, L.E., and Plevy, S.E.
ID
ZDB-PUB-121227-18
Date
2013
Source
Gastroenterology   144(4): 789-798 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Mackey, Lantz, Rawls, John F.
Keywords
mouse model, IBD, ulcerative colitis, anti-inflammatory agent
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Bacterial Translocation/drug effects
  • Bacterial Translocation/physiology*
  • Blotting, Western
  • Carbon Monoxide/pharmacology*
  • Colitis/drug therapy
  • Colitis/microbiology
  • Colitis/prevention & control*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Escherichia coli/pathogenicity
  • Gentamicins/pharmacology
  • Heme Oxygenase-1/biosynthesis
  • Heme Oxygenase-1/metabolism*
  • Macrophages/cytology
  • Macrophages/physiology
  • Metagenome
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Random Allocation
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Salmonella typhimurium/physiology*
PubMed
23266559 Full text @ Gastroenterology
Abstract

Background & Aims

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and its metabolic by-product, carbon monoxide (CO), protect against intestinal inflammation in experimental models of colitis, but little is known about their intestinal immune mechanisms. We investigated the interactions among CO, HO-1, and the enteric microbiota in mice and zebrafish.

Methods

Germ-free, wild-type, andIl10-/-mice and germ free zebrafish embryoswere colonized with pathogen-free (SPF). Germ-free or SPF-raised wild-type andIl10-/-mice were given intraperitoneal injections of cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP), which upregulates HO-1, the CO releasing molecule ALF186, or saline (control). Colitis was induced in wild-type mice housed in SPF conditions by infection with S. typhimurium.

Results

In colons of germ-free, wild-type mice, SPF microbiota induced production of HO-1 via activation of Nrf2–, IL-10–, and toll-like receptor–dependent pathways; similar observations were made in zebrafish. SPF microbiota did not induce HO-1 in colons of germ-freeIl10-/-mice. Administration of CoPP toIl10-/-mice before transition from germ-free to SPF conditions reduced their development of colitis. InIl10-/-mice, CO and CoPP reduced levels of enteric bacterial genomic DNA in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN). In mice withS. typhimurium -induced enterocolitis, CoPP reduced the numbers of liveS. typhimurium recovered from the lamina propria, MLN, spleen, and liver. Knockdown of HO-1 in mouse macrophages impaired their bactericidal activity against E. coli,E. faecalis, and S. typhimurium, whereas exposure to CO or overexpression of HO-1 increased their bactericidal activity. HO-1 induction and CO increased acidification of phagolysosomes.

Conclusions

Colonic HO-1 prevents colonic inflammation in mice. HO-1 is induced by the enteric microbiota and its homeostatic function is mediated, in part, by promoting bactericidal activities of macrophages.

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