Study shows how glucocorticoids tightly control the inflammatory response

A recent study shows how glucocorticoids tightly control the inflammatory response. US researchers infected mice with a lethal strain of Haemophilis influenzae (pictured).

Glucocorticoids are widely used for their anti-inflammatory action but the underlying mechanism of action is poorly understood. Building on previous knowledge that nuclear factor-kB is involved in the regulation of pro-inflammatory mediators, US researchers infected mice with a lethal strain of Haemophilis influenzae.

Writing in Nature Communications (online, 14 January 2015)[1]
, they report that glucocorticoid treatment significantly suppressed pulmonary inflammation in wild-type mice infected with H. influenzae. However, the effect of therapy was significantly attenuated in mice lacking IRAK-M, a negative regulator of inflammatory pathways. Furthermore, they showed that glucocorticoids and H. influenza synergistically upregulated IRAK-M expression.

IRAK-M may therefore represent a new therapeutic target to suppress bacteria-induced inflammation, the authors propose.

 

 

References

[1] Miyata M, Lee J-Y, Susuki-Miyata S et al. Glucocorticoids suppress inflammation via the upregulation of negative regulator IRAK-M. Nature Communications 2015;6:6062. 

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Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, PJ, 31 January 2015, Vol 294, No 7847;294(7847):DOI:10.1211/PJ.2015.20067675

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