Neutrophils mitigate the systemic host response during endotoxemia in mice

Recent studies have suggested that neutrophils can exert anti-inflammatory effects. To determine the role of neutrophils in the acute response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of the Gram-negative bacterial cell wall, we challenged neutrophil-depleted and control mice with LPS and analyzed the plasma concentrations of biomarkers indicative of the cytokine and chemokine network, activation of coagulation and the vascular endothelium, and cellular injury. We here show that neutrophils serve an anti-inflammatory role upon LPS administration, as reflected by sustained elevations of multiple cytokines and chemokines, and enhanced release of nucleosomes in mice depleted of neutrophils, compared with control mice.