Heme oxygenase-2 suppresses acute inflammation and improves the survival of skin allografts

The heme oxygenase (HO) system is an important regulatory arm of the intrinsic cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory system. HO-2 plays an important role in regulating inflammation following injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of HO-2 overexpression on inflammatory responses. A skin transplantation model, involving the application of skin grafts from wild-type or HO-2 overexpressing mice to BALB/c mice, was used for investigation. HO-2 overexpression suppressed the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6) in macrophages compared to that in macrophages obtained from control mice. HO-2 overexpression also significantly prolonged the survival of allografted skin. Our findings suggest that HO-2 attenuates inflammatory responses and effectively prolongs skin graft survival.