HMGB-1, the principal mediator of late mortality in sepsis, is downregulated in BLP tolerized THP-1 cells

Background: Bacterial Lipopeptide (BLP) protects against sepsis-related mortality through unknown mechanisms. High mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) is the principal mediator of late mortality in sepsis. We postulated that BLP tolerisation may downregulate HMGB1 expression. Methods: Human THP-1 monocytes were tolerised with low-dose BLP (10 ng/ml) prior to BLP stimulation (1000 ng/ml). TNFalpha and IL-6 production from BLP tolerized and control (non-tolerized) THP-1 cells was evaluated by ELISA, following BLP stimulation for six hours. At this timepoint total RNA was harvested from both cell populations and B…