IL-11, A PLEIOTROPIC CYTOKINE - EXCITING NEW EFFECTS OF IL-11 ON GASTROINTESTINAL MUCOSAL BIOLOGY

Recombinant human interleukin 11 (rhIL-11) is a pleiotropic cytokine t hat stimulates bone marrow stem cells to proliferate and decreases int estinal mucosal injury produced by cytoablative drugs and radiation in animals. The effects of rhIL-11 were studied in a hamster model of or al mucositis and in two rat models of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) . Oral mucositis was induced in male Golden Syrian hamsters with 5-flu orouracil 60 mg/kg intraperitoneal, days 0 and 2. Peak mucositis occur red by day 10 in vehicle treated animals. rhIL-11, given twice daily s ubcutaneously, decreased the mucositis in a dose-dependent manner and increased animal survival at all doses tested. In two models of IBD, t he acetic acid-induced acute colonic injury model in Sprague-Dawley ra ts and the transgenic Fischer 344 rats expressing human HLA-B27 and be ta 2-microglobulin, rhIL-11 decreased the gross and microscopic damage in the colons of these animals. These data suggest that rhIL-11 exert s effects on the gastrointestinal mucosa which ameliorate responses to injurious stimuli.