Blockade of Pannexin-1 (PX1) reduces inflammation and colonization in bacterial pneumonia

A recent paper has shown that the activation of inflammasome signaling mediates pathology of acute Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia. The authors suggest the inflammasome as a target to limit the pathological consequences of acute P. aeruginosa lung infection. Pannexin-1 channels mediate activation of caspase-1 and release of IL-1β induced by P2X7 receptor activation. The approved drug probenecid is an inhibitor of pannexin-1 channels and ATP release. In this study, we demonstrate that probenecid reduces inflammation and colonization in bacterial lung infection. Probenecid treatment of mice prior to infection wit…