Interleukin-35 expression protects against cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation in mice

• Main Authors: Xiuhe Pan, Keye Xu, Yuan Li, Xiaoying Wang, Xiao Peng, Mingcai Li, Yan Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019-02-01
• Series: Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy
• Subjects: IL-35; Hydrodynamic-based gene delivery; Cigarette smoke; Lung inflammation
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332218331421

Cigarette smoke (CS) is a very important cause of pulmonary inflammatory diseases. Interleukin (IL)-35 is a novel anti-inflammatory cytokine but its role in CS-mediated lung inflammation remains unclear. In the present study, we examined the effect of IL-35 expression on CS-induced lung inflammation in mice. A plasmid DNA expressing IL-35 was injected into mice via a hydrodynamic-based gene delivery that were subsequently exposed to CS three times a day for 5 days. We found that IL-35 expression inhibited pulmonary inflammatory infiltration, lung tissue lesions, mucus secretion, and myeloperoxidase activity in CS-treated mice. Moreover, IL-35 expression decreased the production of IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, and IL-17, but increased the level of IL-10 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids and lung tissues from CS-challenged mice. These results suggest that in vivo expression of IL-35 can protect against CS-induced lung inflammation and may be a therapeutic target in CS-related pulmonary diseases.