Abstract
Hemorrhagic shock resulting from blood loss directs the majority of the blood to the vital organs, dramatically reducing blood flow to the intestines and resulting in damage and inflammation. The excessive intestinal inflammatory response includes pro-inflammatory cytokines and complement activation, although the mechanism is not clear. Toll-like receptors play a vital role in the innate immune response and toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is required for intestinal ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury. We hypothesized that TLR2 plays an integral role in the intestinal inflammatory response after hemorrhage and subjected C57Bl/6 wild-type and Tlr2(-/-) mice to atraumatic loss of ∼30% total blood volume. Two hours after blood removal, the intestinal injury and inflammation were assessed. We demonstrate that compared with wild-type control mice, Tlr2(-/-) mice sustain less intestinal damage and inflammation. Importantly, TLR2 regulated eicosanoid and complement activation and IL-12 and TNFα secretions, indicating interactions between TLR2 and complement in response to significant blood loss.