Lipopolysaccharide-induced anti-inflammatory acute phase response is enhanced in spermidine/spermine N 1-acetyltransferase (SSAT) overexpressing mice

Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an effective activator of the components of innate immunity. It has been shown that polyamines and their metabolic enzymes affect the LPS-induced immune response by modulating both pro- and anti-inflammatory actions. On the other hand, LPS causes changes in cellular polyamine metabolism. In this study, the LPS-induced inflammatory response in spermidine/spermine N (1)-acetyltransferase overexpressing transgenic mice (SSAT mice) was analyzed. In liver and kidneys, LPS enhanced the activity of the polyamine biosynthetic enzyme ornithine decarboxylase and increased the intracellular putrescine content in both SSAT overexpressing and wild-type mice. In survival studies, the enhanced polyamine catabolism and concomitantly altered cellular polyamine pools in SSAT mice did not affect the LPS-induced mortality of these animals. However, in the acute phase of LPS-induced inflammatory response, the serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 beta and interferon-gamma were significantly reduced and, on the contrary, anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 was significantly increased in the sera of SSAT mice compared with the wild-type animals. In addition, hepatic acute-phase proteins C-reactive protein, haptoglobin and alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein were expressed in higher amounts in SSAT mice than in the wild-type animals. In summary, the study suggests that SSAT overexpression obtained in SSAT mice enhances the anti-inflammatory actions in the acute phase of LPS-induced immune response.