ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1641300
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Experimental Models as a Tool for Studying Therapeutic Targets in COPD: Lessons LearnedView all articles
IL-17 NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODY MITIGATES THE FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN CIGARETTE SMOKE-INDUCED COPD MODEL
Provisionally accepted- 1University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 2Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo - Campus Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 3Universidade de Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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Smoking remains the main risk factor for the development of COPD. The inflammatory response mediated by innate and adaptive immune cells has been described in the development and progression of COPD, and the importance of Th17 cytokines has been observed. Studies have shown that blocking IL-17 can reduce inflammation in experimental models of lung injury. This study evaluated the effect of an IL-17 inhibitor in a model of COPD induced by cigarette smoke in C57BL/6 mice. The effects of treatment with IL-17 inhibitor were evaluated in an experimental model of COPD. Mice were exposed to cigarette smoke for 6 months, and treatment with IL-17 inh ibitor was initiated in the 5th month. Four experimental groups were constituted: Control group, animals housed in a vivarium, receiving filtered room air; Control Anti-IL-17 group animals housed in a vivarium, receiving filtered room air and treatment with an anti-IL-17 neutralizing antibody; COPD group, where the animals were exposed to cigarette smoke; and COPD anti-IL-17 group, where the animals were exposed to cigarette smoke and received treatment with an anti-IL-17 neutralizing antibody. In the COPD groups, an increase in mean linear intercept was observed, along with a decrease in tissue elastance and tissue damping, confirming the COPD development.Administration of the IL-17 neutralizing antibody reversed these structural and functional alterations. Additionally, the COPD group exhibited an inflammatory response characterized by increased infiltration of polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells, and elevated numbers of IL-17-and IL-6-positive cells. These findings were consistent with the increased expression of IL-17 and IL-6 in lung homogenates, as assessed by ELISA.Treatment with the IL-17 neutralizing antibody effectively reversed this inflammatory response by reducing the expression of these inflammatory markers. These results were further supported by the evaluation of RORγt gene expression, which was significantly upregulated in the COPD group. Treatment with the IL-17 neutralizing antibody alleviate this upregulation. Thus, this study demonstrates, for the first time, the effectiveness of IL-17 neutralizing antibody treatment in a cigarette smoke-induced model of COPD, even after lung damage had been established, suggesting the therapeutic potential of IL-17 neutralizing antibodies in COPD.
Keywords: COPD, adaptive immune response, Structural changes, Respiratory Mechanics, IL-17 inhibitor
Received: 04 Jun 2025; Accepted: 15 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Moreira, Uchoa, Costa, Simao, Camargo, Lima, Silva, Bezerra, Nascimento, Alonso-Vale, Tibério, Almeida and Lopes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fernanda Degobbi Tenorio Quirino dos Santos Lopes, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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