SYSTEMIC BACTEREMIA FOLLOWING HEMORRHAGIC-SHOCK IN MICE - ALLEVIATIONWITH ORAL INTERLEUKIN-6

A murine model of haemorrhagic shock was used to investigate bacterial translocation from the gut and subsequent systemic immunoreduction. A naesthetized mice were bled from the femoral artery, and held at a mea n arterial blood pressure of 35 mm Hg for one hour then resuscitated,v ith shed blood and two-fold volume lactated Ringer's solution. Upon aw akening, they were given cytokines or control media orally, Bacteriolo gical cultures of livers, spleens and mesenteric lymph nodes from haem orrhaged mice given cytokine had significantly fewer bacteria/gm of ti ssue than those given media, Recombinant IL-6 mimicked the effects see n with crude cytokines, Reduction of proliferation among spleen cells from haemorrhaged mice was observed and could be partially returned to normal by cytokine feeding, Mixing experiments in which cells from ha emorrhaged mice were added to those of normal mice in an MLR showed no suppressor activity, Flow cytometry analysis revealed a reduction in CD 3+ cells at 16 hours post-haemorrhage in mice fed control media or cytokines, suggesting that reduced proliferative capacity may be due t o loss of function rather than active suppression, Histological examin ation of the intestines of haemorrhaged mice fed cytokines or media re vealed restoration of intestinal mucosal integrity by cytokine adminis tration, These results suggest that oral administration of IL-6 may be an important treatment for the prevention of systemic sepsis followin g haemorrhage. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited