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Published on: November 4, 2016
Leukocyte Dectin-1 expression is differentially regulated in fungal versus polymicrobial sepsis
Tammy R Ozment-Skelton1, Elizabeth A deFluiter, Tuanzhu Ha
1Departments of Surgery, Microbiology, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA.
Objective:
To examine peripheral leukocyte Dectin-1 regulation in clinically relevant models of fungal and polymicrobial sepsis.
Design:
Prospective animal study.
Setting:
University medical school research laboratory.
Subjects:
Age, weight, and sex matched ICR/HSD mice.
Interventions:
Mice were infected with Candida albicans (1 x 10, intravenously) or were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture to induce polymicrobial sepsis.
Measurements:
Blood, spleen, and peritoneal exudate were harvested and leukocytes were isolated. Leukocytes were evaluated for membrane-associated Dectin-1 expression and cell phenotype by flow cytometry.
Main Results:
In C. albicans infection, Dectin-1-positive blood and splenic leukocytes were increased from 23.5% to 58.9% over the course of infection. The increased percentage of Dectin-1-expressing cells was primarily attributable to neutrophilia. However, the amount of Dectin-1 expressed by blood and splenic neutrophils in C. albicans-infected mice was decreased by a range of 49.0% to 53.3%. C. albicans infection also resulted in an infiltration of Dectin-1-positive macrophages and neutrophils into the kidney. In contrast, polymicrobial sepsis decreased blood leukocyte Dectin-1-expressing cells by up to 51.4%. This reduction was due to a decrease in Dectin-1-positive neutrophils in the periphery. However, the percentage of Dectin-1-expressing cells in the peritoneal cavity increased by 774% with cecal ligation and puncture. Treatment of isolated neutrophils with three soluble glucans, mannan, lipopolysaccharide, or a variety of cytokines revealed that glucans, alone or in combination, were the only treatment that resulted in a decrease in Dectin-1-positive neutrophils.
Conclusions:
We conclude that peripheral leukocyte Dectin-1 expression is differentially regulated in fungal vs. polymicrobial sepsis. These data demonstrate that leukocyte Dectin-1 levels are modulated in response to infections of fungal and nonfungal origin.
