Purpose: Major trauma initiates a systemic inflammatory response, which is characterized by systemic release of various chemokines. There is growing evidence for the extraordinary role of dendritic cells (DC) as professional antigen-presenting cells and activators of the immune response. Recently, the impact of severe trauma on DC transcriptomic activation was demonstrated. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate gene expression pattern in DC following multiple trauma to gain further understanding of the mechanisms of posttraumatic immune response.
Methods: Ten patients with multiple injuries aged 20 to 46 years (mean 30 ± 9.2 years) were included in this study. The mean injury severity score (ISS) was 36 ± 10.4 points. Repeated blood samples were taken on the day of admission (day 0) and on five consecutive days (day 1 to day 5). Microarray analysis and RT-qPCR were performed in primary isolated DC.
Results: A mean of 116,000 ± 21,466 DC with a purity of 96 ± 0,8 % were harvested. Gene expression of CCL5 and CXCL5 as well as TIMP1 and GUCY1B3 showed a significant increase within the first 4 days after trauma. The time-dependent increase of these genes correlated significantly with serum CRP concentration and the total number of DC but neither with age nor with injury severity.
Conclusions: Our study provides new data regarding temporal expression patterns of CCL5, CXCL5, TIMP1, and GUCY13B in multiple trauma. DC activation following trauma may follow a uniform pattern early after admission, eventually leading to cell recruitment.