Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
Volume 194, Issue 10, Pages 1433-1440Publisher
ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1084/jem.194.10.1433
Keywords
bone marrow transplantation; Th1/Th2 cytokines; IFN-gamma; LPS; TNF-alpha
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Funding
- NCI NIH HHS [CA 39542, CA 74886] Funding Source: Medline
- NHLBI NIH HHS [HL 55162] Funding Source: Medline
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Interleukin (IL)-18 is a recently discovered cytokine that modulates both T helper type 1 (Th1) and Th2 responses. IL-18 is elevated during acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). We investigated the role of IL-18 in this disorder using a well characterized murine bone marrow transplantation (BMT) model (B6 --> B6D2F1). Surprisingly, blockade of IL-18 accelerated acute GVHD-related mortality. In contrast, administration of IL-18 reduced serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels, decreased intestinal histopathology, and resulted in significantly improved survival (75 vs. 15%, P < 0.001). Administration of IL-18 attenuated early donor T cell expansion and was associated with increased Fas expression and greater apoptosis of donor T cells. The administration of IL-18 no longer protected BMT recipients from GVHD when Fas deficient (lpr) mice were used as donors. IL-18 also lost its ability to protect against acute GVHD when interferon (IFN)-gamma knockout mice were used as donors. Together, these results demonstrate that IL-18 regulates acute GVHD by inducing enhanced Fas-mediated apoptosis of donor T cells early after BMT, and donor IFN-gamma is critical for this protective effect.
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