[Extracellular histones aggravate acute respiratory distress syndrome by inducing peripheral blood mononuclear cells pyroptosis]

To explore whether extracellular histones aggravate acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) by inducing peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) pyroptosis.

Twenty patients with ARDS admitted to Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine from April to September in 2019 were enrolled, and 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled as controls. In vivo experiment: peripheral blood samples of patients with ARDS within 24 hours after diagnosis and healthy volunteers were collected, and the levels of plasma extracellular histone, interleukins (IL-1β and IL-18) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). PBMC were harvested, the expression levels of the pyroptosis associated N terminal-gasdermin-D (GSDMD-N) protein were determined by Western Blot. In vitro experiment: PBMC isolated from healthy volunteers were divided into four groups. Blank control group without any treatment; lipopolysaccharide (LPS) group was treated with 1 mg/L LPS for 4 hours; LPS+histones group was treated with 100 mg/L exogenous histones for 24 hours after LPS treatment; LPS+histone+heparin group was treated with 200 U heparin for 24 hours after LPS and exogenous histones treatment. The GSDMD-N protein expression was determined by Western Blot, and the levels of IL-1β, IL-18 and LDH in cell supernatant were determined by ELISA. Spearman test was used to test the correlation among the parameters.

In vivo experiment results: compared with healthy control group, the GSDMD-N protein expression in PBMC of patients with ARDS was significantly increased [GSDMD-N/GAPDH: 0.136 (0.062, 0.246) vs. 0.026 (0.018, 0.036), P < 0.01], as well as the plasma levels of IL-1β, IL-18, LDH and extracellular histones [IL-1β (ng/L): 120.0 (94.2, 213.0) vs. 88.5 (82.3, 105.3), IL-18 (ng/L): 164.5 (70.8, 236.3) vs. 60.5 (52.0, 89.0), LDH (U/L): 30.9 (24.7, 39.5) vs. 19.8 (17.2, 21.5), extracellular histones (mg/L): 73.0 (42.8, 112.9) vs. 12.2 (9.6, 16.9), all P < 0.01], indicating that the PBMC of ARDS patients had significant pyroptosis and release of a large number of inflammatory factors. The oxygenation index (PaO₂/FiO₂) of ARDS patients was 135.5 (94.5, 196.0) mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa). Correlation analysis showed that the expression of GSDMD-N protein in patients with ARDS was negatively correlated with PaO₂/FiO₂ (r = -0.935, P < 0.01) and positively correlated with IL-1β, IL-18, LDH and extracellular histones (r value was 0.844, 0.843, 0.887, 0.899, respectively, all P < 0.01). In vitro experiment results: compared with blank control group, the expression of GSDMD-N protein in PBMC and the levels of inflammatory mediators in the supernatant of the LPS group were significantly increased [GSDMD-N/GAPDH: 0.035±0.006 vs. 0.028±0.006, IL-1β (ng/L): 39.8±5.5 vs. 22.6±4.7, IL-18 (ng/L): 31.2±4.4 vs. 20.0±2.2, LDH (U/L): 51.2±7.3 vs. 36.6±7.6, all P < 0.05], indicating that LPS stimulation could increase PBMC pyroptosis and the release of inflammatory mediators. Compared with LPS group, the expression of GSDMD-N protein and the levels of inflammatory mediators of the LPS+histones group were further increased [GSDMD-N/GAPDH: 0.114±0.009 vs. 0.035±0.006, IL-1β (ng/L): 119.0±18.7 vs. 39.8±5.5, IL-18 (ng/L): 49.2±8.5 vs. 31.2±4.4, LDH (U/L): 127.8±19.8 vs. 51.2±7.3, all P < 0.01], indicating that the stimulation of LPS on PBMC could be significantly amplified by exogenous histone treatment, GSDMD-N protein expression could be up-regulated and inflammatory factor release could be promoted to further induce PBMC pyroptosis. These adverse effects of exogenous histones on PBMC could be abrogated by heparin, the expression of GSDMD-N protein and the levels of inflammatory mediators were significantly lower than those of LPS+histones group [GSDMD-N/GAPDH: 0.063±0.004 vs. 0.114±0.009, IL-1β (ng/L): 46.8±8.6 vs. 119.0±18.7, IL-18 (ng/L): 33.0±5.1 vs. 49.2±8.5, LDH (U/L): 65.4±11.0 vs. 127.8±19.8, all P < 0.05].

Extracellular histones in plasma may aggravate ARDS by mediating PBMC pyroptosis.