DMOG protects against murine IL-33-induced pulmonary type 2 inflammation through HIF-1 pathway in innate lymphoid cells

Abstract

One of the traditional methods of treating allergy is to avoid the allergen, protocol that has long been used in high altitude clinics. It has been hypothesized that the therapeutic effect of high altitude on allergy is due to allergen avoidance, exposure to sunlight and reduced stress. However, the contribution of environmental elements like low oxygen pressure and hypoxia remains underexplored. In this study, we examined the role of hypoxia in the development of type 2 lung inflammation. Mice were administered with papain or recombinant IL-33 intra-nasally to induce type 2 lung inflammation. Some of them were treated additionally with the prolyl hydroxylase (PHD) inhibitor DMOG, which mimics hypoxia. DMOG treatment exhibited an inhibitory effect on the lung inflammation induced by papain or IL-33, operating in a manner independent of T and B cells. The anti-inflammatory effect of DMOG was accompanied by a downregulation of IL-5 and IL-13 in innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), which was abolished in HIF-1α deficient mice. Collectively, our findings suggest that DMOG's modulatory effect on IL-5 and IL-13 operates through the HIF-1 pathway, resulting in a reduction in type 2 lung inflammation. These findings underscore the role of the PHD-HIF pathway in IL-5 and IL-13 expression in lung ILCs and pharmacological inhibition of PHD might be a novel therapeutic candidate for type 2 lung inflammation.