FGF15 Protects Septic Mice by Inhibiting Inflammation and Modulating Treg Responses

Fibroblast growth factor 15 (FGF15) through its FGF-receptor (FGFR)-4 inhibits hepatic inflammation. The current study aimed at investigating whether FGF15 could inhibit septic inflammation and its compensative regulatory T cell (Treg) responses in a mouse sepsis model of cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) and in vitro transwell co-culture.

Following the sham or CLP procedure, male CLP C57BL/6 mice were intravenously injected with vehicle saline or FGF15 beginning at 2 h post the procedure every 12 h for three days. Some mice were euthanized and their serum and liver samples were collected for examination of cytokines and Tregs by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blot and flow cytometry. The remaining mice were monitored for their survival up to 14 days post procedure. Moreover, the purified hepatic CD4+ T cells were co-cultured in transwell plates with unmanipulated NCTC 1469 cells or the cells that had been transfected with the control or FGFR4-specific siRNA and treated with, or without, Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) for 24 h, followed by treatment with vehicle PBS or FGF15 for 48 h.

Compared with the CLP group of mice, treatment with FGF15 significantly prolonged the mean survival days of mice (12 vs 1.17 in the CLP group, P = 0.022), mitigated hepatic inflammation and reduced the frequency of apoptotic cells in the liver of mice. FGF15 treatment decreased the percentages of hepatic Tregs, hepatic IL-2, TGF-β and FOXP3 expression in septic mice, accompanied by decreasing serum IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 levels. Similarly, FGF15 treatment also attenuated the LPS-increased frequency of Tregs, FOXP3 and IL-2 expression and IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 secretion in vitro after co-culture with NCTC 1469 cells, but not co-cultured FGFR4-silenced NCTC 1649 cells.

FGF15 treatment through FGFR4 ameliorated hepatic inflammation and its compensative Treg responses, which were associated with protecting from septic death in mice.