• Shan Zou, Qin Luo, Zhixin Song, Liping Zhang, Yun Xia, Huajian Xu, Yu Xiang, Yibing Yin, and Ju Cao.
• Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University.
• J. Infect. Dis. 2017 Jun 1; 215 (11): 1764-1773.

BackgroundProgranulin (PGRN) is an important immunomodulatory factor in a variety of inflammatory diseases. However, its role in pulmonary immunity against bacterial infection remains unknown.MethodsPneumonia was induced in PGRN-deficient and normal wild-type mice using Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus, and we assessed the effects of PGRN on survival, bacterial burden, cytokine and chemokine production, and pulmonary leukocyte recruitment after bacterial pneumonia.ResultsPatients with community-acquired pneumonia displayed elevated PGRN levels. Likewise, mice with Gram-negative and Gram-positive pneumonia had increased PGRN production in the lung and circulation. Progranulin deficiency led to increased bacterial growth and dissemination accompanied by enhanced lung injury and mortality in bacterial pneumonia, which was associated with impaired recruitment of macrophages and neutrophils in the lung. The reduced number of pulmonary macrophages and neutrophils observed in PGRN-deficient mice was related to a reduction of CCL2 and CXCL1 in the lungs after bacterial pneumonia. Importantly, therapeutic administration of PGRN improved mortality in severe bacterial pneumonia.ConclusionsThis study supports a novel role for PGRN in pulmonary immunity and suggests that treatment with PGRN may be a viable therapy for bacterial pneumonia.© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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