Flagellin attenuates experimental sepsis in a macrophage-dependent manner

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is the leading cause of death among critically ill patients, and no specific therapeutic agent is currently approved for the treatment of sepsis. METHODS: We assessed the effects of flagellin administration on survival, bacterial burden, and tissue injury after sepsis. In addition, we examined the effects on phagocytosis and bacterial killing in monocytes/macrophages. RESULTS: Therapeutic administration of flagellin increased bacterial clearance, decreased organ inflammation and injury, and reduced immune cell apoptosis after experimental sepsis, in a Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5)–dependent manner. Macrophages, but not neutrophils, mediated the beneficial effects of flagellin on experimental sepsis, and flagellin induced macrophage polarization into M1 in septic mice. Flagellin treatment could directly enhance phagocytosis and bacterial killing of macrophages, but not neutrophils. Subsequent studies demonstrated that flagellin could promote phagosome formation and increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in macrophages. Finally, we found that the expression of TLR5 was significantly elevated on the surface of circulating monocytes, but not neutrophils, from patients with sepsis. Higher expression levels of TLR5 on monocytes were associated with increased mortality, documented bacteremia, and higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores of the septic patients. Moreover, flagellin treatment rescued the impaired phagocytosis and bacterial killing ability of monocytes/macrophages from patients who died of sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: These novel findings not only established the potential value of application of flagellin as an immunoadjuvant in treating sepsis, but also provided new insights into targeted therapeutic strategy on the basis of monocyte TLR5 expression in septic patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13054-019-2408-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.