Intranasal Poly-IC treatment exacerbates tuberculosis in mice through the pulmonary recruitment of a pathogen-permissive monocyte/macrophage population
Lis R.V. Antonelli, … , Carl G. Feng, Alan Sher
Lis R.V. Antonelli, … , Carl G. Feng, Alan Sher
Published April 12, 2010
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2010;120(5):1674-1682. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI40817.
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Research Article Infectious disease

Intranasal Poly-IC treatment exacerbates tuberculosis in mice through the pulmonary recruitment of a pathogen-permissive monocyte/macrophage population

Abstract

Type I IFN has been demonstrated to have major regulatory effects on the outcome of bacterial infections. To assess the effects of exogenously induced type I IFN on the outcome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, we treated pathogen-exposed mice intranasally with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid condensed with poly-l-lysine and carboxymethylcellulose (Poly-ICLC), an agent designed to stimulate prolonged, high-level production of type I IFN. Drug-treated, M. tuberculosis–infected WT mice, but not mice lacking IFN-αβ receptor 1 (IFNαβR; also known as IFNAR1), displayed marked elevations in lung bacillary loads, accompanied by widespread pulmonary necrosis without detectable impairment of Th1 effector function. Importantly, lungs from Poly-ICLC–treated M. tuberculosis–infected mice exhibited a striking increase in CD11b+F4/80+Gr1int cells that displayed decreased MHC II expression and enhanced bacterial levels relative to the same subset of cells purified from infected, untreated controls. Moreover, both the Poly-ICLC–triggered pulmonary recruitment of the CD11b+F4/80+Gr1int population and the accompanying exacerbation of infection correlated with type I IFN–induced upregulation of the chemokine-encoding gene Ccl2 and were dependent on host expression of the chemokine receptor CCR2. The above findings suggest that Poly-ICLC treatment can detrimentally affect the outcome of M. tuberculosis infection, by promoting the accumulation of a permissive myeloid population in the lung. In addition, these data suggest that agents that stimulate type I IFN should be used with caution in patients exposed to this pathogen.

Authors

Lis R.V. Antonelli, Antonio Gigliotti Rothfuchs, Ricardo Gonçalves, Ester Roffê, Allen W. Cheever, Andre Bafica, Andres M. Salazar, Carl G. Feng, Alan Sher

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Figure 1

Poly-ICLC treatment increases host susceptibility to acute and chronic M. tuberculosis infection in mice.

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Poly-ICLC treatment increases host susceptibility to acute and chronic M...
WT mice were infected with M. tuberculosis (MTB) by aerosol and treated with Poly-ICLC, starting either 1 day (A–D) or 4 months (E and F) after exposure. (A) Representative images of H&E-stained lung sections and (B) histopathological evaluation of pulmonary necrosis in Poly-ICLC– or PBS-treated mice, 4 weeks after initiation of treatment of acutely infected mice. (C) Acid-fast staining and (D) bacterial load in the lungs of Poly-ICLC– or PBS-treated animals. (E) Survival and (F) pulmonary mycobacterial loads in Poly-ICLC– or PBS-treated mice (n = 5) exposed to M. tuberculosis 4 months earlier. The analysis was performed 3 weeks after treatment, due to increased mortality in drug-treated animals. Filled and open circles represent Poly-ICLC– or PBS-treated animals, respectively. In B, D, and F, circles indicate individual mice. Horizontal lines represent comparisons between Poly-ICLC– and PBS-treated, M. tuberculosis–infected mice. The data shown are representative of 5 (A–D) and 2 (E and F) independent experiments. Original magnification, ×50 (A); ×200 (C, first and third panels); ×400 (C, second and fourth panels). *0.01 < P value < 0.05, **P < 0.01.