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. 1993 Apr 1;177(4):1205–1208. doi: 10.1084/jem.177.4.1205

Interleukin 10 protects mice from lethal endotoxemia

PMCID: PMC2190971  PMID: 8459215

Abstract

Interleukin 10 (IL-10) decreases production of IL-1, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in vitro, and neutralization of IL-10 in mice leads to elevation of the same monokines. We test here whether this monokine-suppressing property of IL-10 confers on it the capacity to protect mice from lipopolysaccharide-induced shock, a monokine- mediated inflammatory reaction. A single injection of 0.5-1 microgram of recombinant murine IL-10 reproducibly protected BALB/c mice from a lethal intraperitoneal injection of endotoxin. This result was obtained whether the IL-10 was administered concurrently with, or 30 min after the injection of endotoxin. The protective effect of IL-10 was reversed by prior injection of neutralizing anti-IL-10 antibodies, and correlated with a substantial decrease in endotoxin-induced TNF-alpha release. These data implicate IL-10 as a candidate for treatment of bacterial sepsis, and more generally as an effective antiinflammatory reagent.

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Selected References

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