TY - JOUR
T1 - Estriol reduces pulmonary immune cell recruitment and inflammation to protect female mice from severe influenza
AU - Vermillion, Meghan S.
AU - Ursin, Rebecca L.
AU - Attreed, Sarah E.
AU - Klein, Sabra L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial Support: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance contract HHS N272201400007C (to S.L.K.), the NIH T32 CA009110 Training in Areas Fundamental to Cancer Research (to R.L.U.), the NIH 5T32 HL007534 Multidisciplinary Training Program in Lung Disease (to S.E.A.), and the NIH T32 OD011089 Grant for Training Veterinarians for Careers in Biomedical Research (to M.S.V.).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 Endocrine Society.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Estriol (E3) is an endogenous estrogen in females with broad biological activity within diverse tissue types. In the context of certain T-cell–mediated autoimmune inflammatory diseases, E3 can ameliorate disease severity through immunomodulatory mechanisms that decrease tissue inflammation. Severe disease caused by influenza A virus (IAV) infection is also characterized by aberrant inflammation and immunopathology. How E3 might affect the pathogenesis of IAV infection, however, has not been explored. Gonadally intact female C57BL/6 mice that were treated with exogenous E3 during infection with mouse-adapted 2009 H1N1 had reduced total pulmonary inflammation and improved disease outcomes compared with females that received no hormone. Furthermore, compared with no hormone treatment, E3 treatment reduced the induction of genes associated with proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine responses in the lungs, which preceded clinical disease, reductions in innate immune cell recruitment, altered pulmonary T-cell skewing, and reduced antibody titers during IAV infection. Although E3 treatment was associated with reduced local and systemic anti-influenza adaptive immune responses, there was no effect of E3 on viral replication or clearance. Together, these data suggest that exogenous E3 confers protection during IAV infection through immunomodulatory mechanisms and that E3 may have broad therapeutic potential in the context of both infectious and noninfectious inflammatory diseases.
AB - Estriol (E3) is an endogenous estrogen in females with broad biological activity within diverse tissue types. In the context of certain T-cell–mediated autoimmune inflammatory diseases, E3 can ameliorate disease severity through immunomodulatory mechanisms that decrease tissue inflammation. Severe disease caused by influenza A virus (IAV) infection is also characterized by aberrant inflammation and immunopathology. How E3 might affect the pathogenesis of IAV infection, however, has not been explored. Gonadally intact female C57BL/6 mice that were treated with exogenous E3 during infection with mouse-adapted 2009 H1N1 had reduced total pulmonary inflammation and improved disease outcomes compared with females that received no hormone. Furthermore, compared with no hormone treatment, E3 treatment reduced the induction of genes associated with proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine responses in the lungs, which preceded clinical disease, reductions in innate immune cell recruitment, altered pulmonary T-cell skewing, and reduced antibody titers during IAV infection. Although E3 treatment was associated with reduced local and systemic anti-influenza adaptive immune responses, there was no effect of E3 on viral replication or clearance. Together, these data suggest that exogenous E3 confers protection during IAV infection through immunomodulatory mechanisms and that E3 may have broad therapeutic potential in the context of both infectious and noninfectious inflammatory diseases.
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U2 - 10.1210/en.2018-00486
DO - 10.1210/en.2018-00486
M3 - Article
C2 - 30032246
AN - SCOPUS:85054827970
SN - 0013-7227
VL - 159
SP - 3306
EP - 3320
JO - Endocrinology
JF - Endocrinology
IS - 9
ER -