Mobilization and Margination of Bone Marrow Gr-1high Monocytes during Subclinical Endotoxemia Predisposes the Lungs toward Acute Injury

The specialized role of mouse Gr-1(high) monocytes in local inflammatory reactions has been well documented, but the trafficking and responsiveness of this subset during systemic inflammation and their contribution to sepsis-related organ injury has not been investigated. Using flow cytometry, we studied monocyte subset margination to the pulmonary microcirculation during subclinical endotoxemia in mice and investigated whether marginated monocytes contribute to lung injury in response to further septic stimuli. Subclinical low-dose i.v. LPS induced a rapid (within 2 h), large-scale mobilization of bone marrow Gr-1(high) monocytes and their prolonged margination to the lungs. With secondary LPS challenge, membrane TNF expression on these premarginated monocytes substantially increased, indicating their functional priming in vivo. Zymosan challenge produced small increases in pulmonary vascular permeability, which were markedly enhanced by the preadministration of low-dose LPS. The LPS-zymosan-induced permeability increases were effectively abrogated by pretreatment (30 min before zymosan challenge) with the platelet-activating factor antagonist WEB 2086 in combination with the phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase C inhibitor D609, suggesting the involvement of platelet-activating factor/ceramide-mediated pathways in this model. Depletion of monocytes (at 18 h after clodronate-liposome treatment) significantly attenuated the LPS-zymosan-induced permeability increase. However, restoration of normal LPS-induced Gr-1(high) monocyte margination to the lungs (at 48 h after clodronate-liposome treatment) resulted in the loss of this protective effect. These results demonstrate that mobilization and margination of Gr-1(high) monocytes during subclinical endotoxemia primes the lungs toward further septic stimuli and suggest a central role for this monocyte subset in the development of sepsis-related acute lung injury. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 182: 1155-1166.