Analysis of Gene Expression Profiles, Cytokines, and Bacterial Loads Relevant to Alcoholic Liver Disease Mice Infected With V. vulnificus

• Published in: Frontiers in immunology 2021-08, Vol.12, p.695491
• Main Authors: Feng, Zi-Han, Li, Shi-Qing, Zhang, Jia-Xin, Ni, Bin, Bai, Xin-Ru, Xu, Jian-Hao, Liu, Zhen-Bo, Xin, Wen-Wen, Kang, Lin, Gao, Shan, Wang, Jing, Li, Yan-Wei, Li, Jia-Xin, Yuan, Yuan, Wang, Jing-Lin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alcoholic liver disease; Animals; Bacterial Load; bacterial loads; Cell Proliferation; cytokines; Cytokines - genetics; Cytokines - metabolism; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Immunology; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - genetics; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - immunology; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - metabolism; Lymphocyte Activation; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; RNA-Seq; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; T-Lymphocytes - microbiology; Transcriptome; Vibrio Infections - genetics; Vibrio Infections - immunology; Vibrio Infections - metabolism; Vibrio vulnificus; Vibrio vulnificus - growth & development; Vibrio vulnificus - immunology; Vibrio vulnificus - pathogenicity
• ISSN: 1664-3224; 1664-3224
• DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.695491

Patients with liver disease are susceptible to infection with ( ), but the specific reasons remain elusive. Through RNA-seq, we found that when mice with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) were infected with by gavage, compared with the Pair group, the small intestinal genes affecting intestinal permeability were upregulated; and the number of differentially expressed genes related to immune functions (e.g., such as cell chemotaxis, leukocyte differentiation, and neutrophil degranulation) decreased in the liver, spleen, and blood. Further analysis showed that the number of white blood cells decreased in the Pair group, whereas those in the ALD mice did not change significantly. Interestingly, the blood bacterial load in the ALD mice was about 100 times higher than that of the Pair group. After the ALD mice were infected with , the concentrations of T cell proliferation-promoting cytokines (IL-2, IL-23) decreased. Therefore, unlike the Pair group, ALD mice had weaker immune responses, lower T cell proliferation-promoting cytokines, and higher bacterial loads post-infection, possibly increasing their susceptibility to infection. These new findings we presented here may help to advance the current understanding of the reasons why patients with liver disease are susceptible to infection and provides potential targets for further investigation in the context of treatment options for sepsis in liver disease patient.