Vagus nerve regulates the phagocytic and secretory activity of resident macrophages in the liver

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract harbors commensal microorganisms as well as invasive bacteria, toxins and other pathogens and, therefore, plays a pivotal barrier and immunological role against pathogenic agents. The vagus nerve is an important regulator of the GI tract-associated immune system, havi...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Roberta Cristelli Fonseca, Gabriel Shimizu Bassi, Camila Carvalho Brito, Lorena Barreto Rosa, Bruna Araújo David, Alan Moreira Araújo, Natália Nóbrega, Ariane Barros Diniz, Itamar Couto Guedes Jesus, Lucíola Silva Barcelos, Marco Antônio Peliky Fontes, Daniella Bonaventura, Alexandre Kanashiro, Thiago Mattar Cunha, Sílvia Guatimosim, Valbert Nascimento Cardoso, Simone Odília Antunes Fernandes, Gustavo Batista Menezes, Guillaume de Lartigue, André Gustavo Oliveira
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2019
Country:Brasil
Institution:Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Repository:Repositório Institucional da UFMG
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ufmg.br:1843/40843
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1843/40843
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Vagus nerve
Cholinergic signaling
Liver
Kupffer cells
Phagocytosis
Fígado
Nervo vago
Description
Summary:The gastrointestinal (GI) tract harbors commensal microorganisms as well as invasive bacteria, toxins and other pathogens and, therefore, plays a pivotal barrier and immunological role against pathogenic agents. The vagus nerve is an important regulator of the GI tract-associated immune system, having profound effects on inflammatory responses. Among GI tract organs, the liver is a key site of immune surveillance, as it has a large population of resident macrophages and receives the blood drained from the guts through the hepatic portal circulation. Although it is widely accepted that the hepatic tissue is a major target for vagus nerve fibers, the role of this neural circuit in liver immune functions is still poorly understood. Herein we used in vivo imaging techniques, including confocal microscopy and scintigraphy, to show that vagus nerve stimulation increases the phagocytosis activity by resident macrophages in the liver, even on the absence of an immune challenge. The activation of this neural circuit in a non-lethal model of sepsis optimized the removal of bacteria in the liver and resulted in the production of anti-inflammatory and pro-regenerative cytokines. Our findings provide new insights into the neural regulation of the immune system in the liver.

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