NF-κB activation has tissue-specific effects on immune cell apoptosis during polymicrobial sepsis

Studies indicate that critically ill patients who succumb to sequela of sepsis/multiorgan failure, as well as septic animals, exhibit an apparently pathological increase in apoptosis (A(o)) in the immune system. However, the mechanisms regulating these changes are unclear. Studies also indicate that, dependent on the cell population and the nature and/or duration of the stimuli, activation of the nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB can either suppress or enhance A(o). Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the contribution of NF-kappaB activation to the onset of A(o) seen in divergent immune cell populations during sepsis, as produced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). To assess this, C3H/HeN mice were pretreated (for 1 h) subcutaneously with either 100 mg/kg body weight of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), an NF-kappaB inhibitor, or with saline vehicle, prior to subjecting them to CLP or Sham-CLP (Sham). Thymocytes, phagocytes, and Peyer's Patch cells were harvested 24 h later, and the extent of A(o) was determined by flow cytometry. The results indicate that PDTC pretreatment had no marked effect on the increase in thymocyte or phagocyte A(o) seen following CLP, but there was a significant decline in the extent of A(o) observed in septic mouse Peyer's patch B cells. To the extent that this was a result of NF-kappaB inhibition, we demonstrate by Western analysis, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and transfactor assay that the translocation of c-Rel to septic mouse Peyer's patch B cell nuclei is attenuated by PDTC. PDTC pretreatment also markedly reduced the number of Peyer's patch B cells that were producing IgA as well as attenuated the increase of proinflammatory cytokines in the blood. Interestingly, PDTC pretreatment did not restore peritoneal macrophage function or improve animal survival. Taken together, the inability of PDTC pretreatment to alter the A(o) response of thymocytes or phagocytes, while inhibiting the increase in Peyer's patch B cell A(o) in septic mice, implies not only that the activation of NF-kappaB has highly tissue/cell-specific effects that must be discerned when trying to clarify the pathophysiological role of NF-kappaB in sepsis, but that the activation of NF-kappaB may contribute to the early adaptive responses required by the host to fend off septic challenge.