Interleukin-8 Production from Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells During Brief Hyperglycemia: The Effect of Tumor Necrotic Factor-α

BackgroundThis study evaluated the changes in chemokine interleukin (IL)-8 production from endothelial cells under various hyperglycemic conditions and investigated whether the hyperglycemia associated with the acute inflammatory response could enhance the IL-8 production from the endothelial cells.Materials and methodsHuman umbilical endothelial cells (HUVECs) were seeded at a concentration of 1 × 105 cells/well and cultured. The culture medium was replaced with Medium 199 containing various concentrations of glucose (final glucose concentration of culture medium was 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 mg/dL; n = 7 each) with or without 100 ng of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). After 12 or 24 h at 37°C, the supernatants were collected from the cultures and stored at −80°C until cytokine assay. IL-8 levels of the samples from the supernatants were quantified using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit.ResultsThe IL-8 production by the HUVECs was significantly higher in the high glucose culture than in the control culture (glucose concentration of 100 mg/dL) (P < 0.05). Moreover, the hyperglycemia associated with elevated TNF-α was found to enhance the level of IL-8 production by the HUVECs cultured at all glucose concentrations and over both time courses, compared to the control (P < 0.05).ConclusionsIn this study we observed a significant augmentation of IL-8 production by endothelial cells during short-term hyperglycemia, and a similar but significantly stronger augmentation was obtained through TNF treatment. These findings suggest that the hyperglycemia associated with acute inflammatory response after trauma may put the patients at high risk for secondary tissue damage.