Interleukin-22 produced by alveolar macrophages during activation of the innate immune response

Interleukin (IL)-22 is important for mucosal host defense. Whereas previous studies focus on lymphocytes as sources of IL-22, we determined whether IL-22 is produced by inflammatory cells in the lungs other than T-lymphocytes during the activation of the innate immune response.

Inflammatory cells in the lungs of Balb/c mice were primed by endotoxin (LPS, 10 μg) or peptidoglycan (PG, 40 μg) intranasally (3 days). After CD3 + cell depletion, lung homogenates were re-stimulated 24 h with LPS (100 ng/ml), PG (10 μg/ml), IL-23 (100 ng/ml) or vehicle. Human BAL macrophages were stimulated 24 h with PG (50 μg/ml) and IL-23 (100 ng/ml) or vehicle. The release of IL-22 was measured with ELISA and intracellular IL-22 with immunostaining. For statistics, either Dunnett or Students t test method was employed (n = 3-8).

Re-stimulation in vitro increased concentrations of mouse IL-22 protein irrespective of priming in vivo. A majority of macrophages in mouse lung and BAL samples displayed immunostaining for IL-22. In analogy, human BAL macrophages released IL-22 protein, and a third of these cells displayed immunostaining for IL-22.

Alveolar macrophages can produce and release IL-22 during the activation of the innate immune response and thereby constitute a potentially important regulator of mucosal host defence in the lungs.