{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T20:18:34Z","timestamp":1777666714048,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]],"date-time":"2020-12-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1607644800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"NIH","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01 AI116453"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01 AI116453"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003593","name":"CNPq","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["302660\/2015-1 and 406883\/2018-1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["302660\/2015-1 and 406883\/2018-1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003593","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004901","name":"FAPEMIG","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["APQ-01945-17 and Rede 00140-16"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["APQ-01945-17 and Rede 00140-16"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004901","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine promptly produced in response to infections, which contributes to host defense through the stimulation of acute phase immune responses. Brucella abortus is an intracellular bacterium that causes chronic disease in humans and domestic animals and triggers a robust immune response, characterized by the production of inflammatory cytokines. However, the mechanisms of IL-6-related immune responses in the context of Brucella infections are not completely understood. In this report, we describe an increased susceptibility of IL-6 knockout (KO) mice in the early phase of Brucella infection. Furthermore, we demonstrate that IL-6 is required for interferon (IFN)-\u03b3 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-\u03b1 induction by infected splenocytes, indicating a protective role for IL-6 against B. abortus that parallels with Th1 type of immune response. Additionally, IL-6 KO mice exhibited reduced splenomegaly during the early phase of the infection. Corroborating this result, IL-6 KO mice displayed reduced numbers of macrophages, dendritic cells, and neutrophils in the spleen and reduced myeloperoxidase activity in the liver compared to wild-type infected mice. However, we demonstrate that IL-6 is not involved in B. abortus intracellular restriction in mouse macrophages. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that IL-6 contributes to host resistance during the early phase of B. abortus infection in vivo, and suggest that its protective role maybe partially mediated by proinflammatory immune responses and immune cell recruitment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens9121040","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,13]],"date-time":"2020-12-13T20:56:57Z","timestamp":1607893017000},"page":"1040","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Lack of Interleukin-6 Affects IFN-\u03b3 and TNF-\u03b1 Production and Early In Vivo Control of Brucella abortus Infection"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Erika S.","family":"Guimar\u00e3es","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Genetics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"J\u00e9ssica M.","family":"Martins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marco T\u00falio R.","family":"Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8051-3396","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daiane M.","family":"Cerqueira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sergio C.","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"448","DOI":"10.1038\/ni.3153","article-title":"IL-6 as a keystone cytokine in health and disease","volume":"16","author":"Hunter","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nat. 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