Abstract
Inflammation has been associated with immunological dysfunctions and chronic inflammatory diseases but is important for normal repair processes like bone healing. Macrophages (mØ) are important for bone growth, maintenance, and regeneration. MØ are distinct from other bone cells and play an important role in the inflammatory stage of bone healing. Previous data has shown that ablation of mØs during the inflammatory stage can severely impair bone healing and exacerbate bone loss in osteoporotic models. However, little research has focused on characterizing the mØ subtypes found during the inflammatory stage. We hypothesized that different mØ subtypes are activated during inflammation and release factors to regulate bone repair. Therefore, bone marrow was collected from mice femurs at days 0, 1, 2, 4, and 7 after fracture and mØ were isolated using established methods. MØ subtypes were identified using anti-F4/80, anti-CD80, and anti-CD86 antibodies via flow cytometry and cytokine expression was quantified using Luminex. When compared to unfractured controls, a 40–50% increase in MHC class II+/CD80+ double positive mØs and MHC class II+/CD86+ double positive mØs were found on day 2 post-fracture, which remained elevated through day 4 or 7, respectively. No differences were found in mØ populations between femurs in naïve (unfractured) mice. mØs of the fractured limbs expressed higher levels of cytokines overtime. Our results suggest that different subtypes of mØs are present during the inflammatory stage and may support diverse functions such as effertocytosis, chemotaxis, and tissue anabolism or catabolism, which provides insight into their contribution in normal or uncontrolled inflammatory related processes and conditions.
