RESUMO
The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of interleukin-37 (IL-37) on brain inflammation induced by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). A transgenic mouse strain was generated to express human IL-37 (hIL-37tg), and these mice were subjected to cerebral I/R. We made middle cerebral artery ischemia-reperfusion model in mice. Compared with wild type, scores of cerebral infarct size and neurologic impairment in hIL-37tg mice were obviously lower after 24h ischemia and 72 h reperfusion. Light microscopic and electron microscopic results showed that cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in hIL-37tg mice was less serious than that in WT mice. The results showed that IL-37 participates in the process of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury probably through decrease of pro-inflammatory cytokines; TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-1ß, MCP-1 and MIP-1. Our study suggests that IL-37 is one of the mechanisms of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury besides its important role in innate immunity and IL-37 may become a new target for prevention of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.