IL-37 Inhibits Inflammasome Activation and Disease Severity in Murine Aspergillosis

Since il-37 transgenic mice possesses broad anti-inflammatory properties,we assessed whether recombinant il-37 affects inflammation in a murine model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. recombinant human il-37 was injected intraperitoneally into mice prior to infection and the effects on lung inflammation and inflammasome activation were evaluated. il-37 markedly reduced nlrp3-dependent neutrophil recruitment and steady state mrna levels of il-1β production and mitigated lung inflammation and damage in a relevant clinical model,namely aspergillosis in mice with cystic fibrosis. the anti-inflammatory activity of il-37 requires the il-1 family decoy receptor tir-8/sigirr. thus,by preventing activation of the nlrp3 inflammasome and reducing il-1β secretion,il-37 functions as a broad spectrum inhibitor of the innate response to infection-mediated inflammation,and could be considered to be therapeutic in reducing the pulmonary damage due to non-resolving aspergillus infection and disease. © 2014 moretti et al.