Institute for Immunobiology, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, PR China.
Clin Immunol. 2011 Jul;140(1):92-101. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2011.03.017. Epub 2011 Mar 27.
In this study we explored the effects of galectin-9 on CVB3 induced myocarditis and its possible mechanisms involved. We demonstrated that galectin-9 expression was significantly up-regulated in the myocardium following CVB3 infection and was correlated with the severity of viral myocarditis. To explore whether galectin-9 may have therapeutic effect on the CVB3 induced myocarditis, galectin-9 was administered daily to mice following CVB3 infection. Significantly reduced CD4(+) T cells and remarkably increased regulatory T cells frequency in the heart tissue were found as compared to the non-treated mice. It was accompanied by a significant decreased level of Th1 cytokines as TNF-α and IFN-γ both in the myocardium and serum, and an increased level of Th2 cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-10. Galectin-9 was further found to promote the proliferation of regulatory T cells and elevated IL-4-secreting Th2 cells. It may represent as a novel therapeutic strategy in treating Th1-mediated inflammatory cardiac disease.
在这项研究中，我们探讨了半乳糖凝集素-9（Galectin-9）对柯萨奇病毒 B3（CVB3）诱导心肌炎的影响及其可能的作用机制。研究表明，Galectin-9 在 CVB3 感染后心肌中的表达明显上调，且与病毒性心肌炎的严重程度相关。为了探讨 Galectin-9 对 CVB3 诱导的心肌炎是否具有治疗作用，我们在 CVB3 感染后每天给予 Galectin-9 治疗。与未治疗的小鼠相比，Galectin-9 治疗组小鼠心脏组织中的 CD4(+)T 细胞明显减少，调节性 T 细胞（Treg）频率显著增加。同时，心肌和血清中 Th1 细胞因子（如 TNF-α 和 IFN-γ）水平显著降低，而 Th2 细胞因子（如 IL-4 和 IL-10）水平升高。Galectin-9 进一步被发现可促进 Treg 细胞的增殖，并增加分泌 IL-4 的 Th2 细胞数量。它可能代表了治疗 Th1 介导的炎症性心脏疾病的一种新的治疗策略。
