ENHANCEMENT AND HEPATOCYTE-MODULATING EFFECT OF CHEMICAL MEDIATORS AND MONOKINES PRODUCED BY HEPATIC MACROPHAGES IN RATS WITH INDUCED SEPSIS

We investigated the production of chemical mediators by hepatic macrophages from rats with sepsis and the modulation of hepatocyte function by these hepatic macrophages. The chemical mediators we measured were superoxide (O2BAR), TNF, IL-1, and PGE2. Production of these mediators by hepatic macrophages from rats with sepsis was significantly increased. Furthermore, protein synthesis by cultured hepatocytes was inhibited in a co-culture system of hepatocytes and hepatic macrophages from rats with sepsis, and it was even inhibited by the supernatant of cultured hepatic macrophages from septic rats. These results demonstrate that hepatic macrophages are activated in sepsis and may play a role in inducing hepatic dysfunction in sepsis.