Overexpression of activated protein C hampers bacterial dissemination during pneumococcal pneumonia

Johannes Daan de Boer, Liesbeth M Kager, Joris JTH Roelofs, Joost CM Meijers, Onno J de Boer, Hartmut Weiler, Berend Isermann, Cornelis van ’t Veer, Tom van der Poll

BackgroundDuring pneumonia, inflammation and coagulation are activated as part of anti-bacterial host defense. Activated protein C (APC) has anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties and until recently was a registered drug for the treatment of severe sepsis. Streptococcus (S.) pneumoniae is the most common causative pathogen in community-acquired pneumonia.MethodsWe aimed to investigate the effect of high APC levels during experimental pneumococcal pneumonia. Wild type (WT) and APC overexpressing (APChigh)-mice were intranasally infected with S. pneumoniae and sacrificed after 6, 24 or 48 hours, or followed in a survival study.ResultsIn comparison to WT mice, APChigh-mice showed decreased bacterial dissemination to liver and spleen, while no differences in bacterial loads were detected at the primary site of infection. Although no differences in the extent of lung histopathology were seen, APChigh-mice showed a significantly decreased recruitment of neutrophils into lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Activation of coagulation was not altered in APChigh-mice. No differences in survival were observed between WT and APChigh-mice (P =0.06).ConclusionAPC overexpression improves host defense during experimental pneumococcal pneumonia. This knowledge may add to a better understanding of the regulation of the inflammatory and procoagulant responses during severe Gram-positive pneumonia.