Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is a TH17-like and Treg immune disease

TL;DR

This study reveals that ARDS involves a TH17-like innate immune response and Treg cell activity, with specific cytokine and gene expression changes indicating immune dysregulation and potential fibrosis development.

Contribution

It provides a detailed microarray analysis showing immune pathway alterations in ARDS, highlighting the roles of TH17-like and Treg cells in its pathogenesis.

Findings

Up-regulation of TH17-related cytokines and innate immune genes.

Down-regulation of key adaptive immunity transcription factors.

Evidence of fibrosis-related gene activation.

Abstract

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a very severe syndrome leading to respiratory failure and subsequent mortality. Sepsis is one of the leading causes of ARDS. Thus, extracellular bacteria play an important role in the pathophysiology of ARDS. Overactivated neutrophils are the major effector cells in ARDS. Thus, extracellular bacteria triggered TH17-like innate immunity with neutrophil activation might accounts for the etiology of ARDS. Here, microarray analysis was employed to describe TH17-like innate immunity-related cytokine including TGF-{\beta} and IL-6 up-regulation in whole blood of ARDS patients. It was found that the innate TH17-related TLR1,2,4,5,8, HSP70, G-CSF, GM-CSF, complements, defensin, PMN chemokines, cathepsins, Fc receptors, NCFs, FOS, JunB, CEBPs, NFkB, and leukotriene B4 are all up-regulated. TGF-{\beta} secreting Treg cells play important roles in lung fibrosis. Up-regulation of Treg associated STAT5B and TGF-{\beta} with down-regulation of MHC genes, TCR genes, and co-stimulation molecule CD86 are noted. Key TH17 transcription factors, STAT3 and ROR{\alpha}, are down-regulated. Thus, the full adaptive TH17 helper CD4 T cells may not be successfully triggered. Many fibrosis promoting genes are also up-regulated including MMP8, MMP9, FGF13, TIMP1, TIMP2, PLOD1, P4HB, P4HA1, PDGFC, HMMR, HS2ST1, CHSY1, and CSGALNACT. Failure to induce successful adaptive immunity could also attribute to ARDS pathogenesis. Thus, ARDS is actually a TH17-like and Treg immune disorder.