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Early neutrophil activation and NETs release in the pristane-induced lupus mice model
Solange Carrasco1, Bernadete L Liphaus2, Tatiana Vasconcelos Peixoto1
1Laboratório de Imunologia Celular (LIM-17), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Background:
NETosis is recognized as an important source of autoantigens. Therefore, we hypothesized whether the pristane-induced lupus mice model shows early activation of neutrophils, the presence of low-density granulocytes (LDGs), and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) release, which could contribute to the development of a lupus phenotype.
Methods:
Twelve female wild-type Balb/c mice were intraperitoneally injected with pristane (n = 6; pristane group) or saline (n = 6; control group). Five days after the injection, blood, peritoneal lavage, bone marrow, and spleen samples were collected for flow cytometry analyses of activated neutrophils (Ly6G+CD11b+), LDGs (CD15+CD14low), and NETs release (Sytox Green+).
Results:
The pristane-induced mice group had a significantly increased number of blood activated neutrophils and LDGs as well as NETs released by these cells compared to the saline-injected control group and the basal values determined 12 days before the injection. The pristane group also had a significantly increased number of activated neutrophils, LDGs, and NETs released compared to the control group for the peritoneal lavage and bone marrow, except total cell count in spleen.
Conclusions:
We demonstrated early changes in the innate immune response such as an increased number of activated neutrophils and LDGs and mainly increased NETosis in the pristane-induced mice model which may be considered as the primary event triggering lupus development.
