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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Depletion and Reconstitution of Macrophages in Mice
Published on: August 1, 2012
Enhancing effect of sodium butyrate on phosphatidylserine-liposome-induced macrophage polarization
Lele Wu1, Gyeung Mi Seon1, Yongjoon Kim1
1Department of Dental Biomaterials Science, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, 03080, South Korea.
Object:
Phosphatidylserine-containing liposomes (PSLs) can mimic the immunomodulatory effects of apoptotic cells by binding to the phosphatidylserine receptors of macrophages. Sodium butyrate, an antiinflammatory short-chain fatty acid, is known to facilitate the M2 polarization of macrophages. This study aimed to investigate the effect of sodium butyrate on PSLs-induced macrophage polarization.
Methods:
PSLs physical properties and cellular uptake tests, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence staining, and flow cytometry analysis were performed to assess the polarization-related indicators of M1/M2 macrophages.
Results:
The results showed that sodium butyrate did not affect the size and cellular uptake of PSLs. For M1 macrophage polarization, sodium butyrate significantly intensified the antiinflammatory function of PSLs, inhibiting LPS-induced proinflammatory genes expression, cytokines and enzyme release (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and inducible nitric oxide synthase), as well as CD86 (M1 marker) expression. In addition to the enhancing effect of antiinflammation, sodium butyrate also promoted PSL-induced M2 macrophages polarization, especially elevated thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) and arginase-1 (Arg-1) enzyme levels which are involved in tissue repair.
Conclusion:
Sodium butyrate enhanced antiinflammatory properties and M2-polarization inducing effect of PSLs. Therefore, sodium butyrate may represent a novel approach to enhance PSL-induced macrophage polarization.
