Meteorin-like protein overexpression ameliorates fulminant hepatitis in mice by inhibiting chemokine-dependent immune cell infiltration

Myokines, which are recently identified cytokines secreted by skeletal muscle in response to stimulation, are crucial for the maintenance of liver function. Fulminant hepatitis (FH) is a life-threatening pathological condition with severe hepatic dysfunction. In this study, we investigated the role of meteorin-like (METRNL), a new myokine, in the pathogenesis of FH. We compared serum samples and liver tissues from FH patients and healthy controls and found that hepatic and serum METRNL levels were significantly increased in FH patients, and serum METRNL levels were related to disease severity in FH patients. We then established a concanavalin A-induced FH model in METRNL-overexpressing and control mice. We found that hepatic METRNL levels in FH mice were significantly increased, and METRNL in the liver was mainly derived from macrophages. In the cultured mouse macrophage line (RAW264.7 cells) and mouse primary peritoneal macrophages (PMs), METRNL overexpression significantly inhibited the release of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF and IL-1β. In METRNL-overexpressing mice, concanavalin A-induced liver injury was significantly ameliorated. Moreover, METRNL overexpression significantly reduced chemokine-dependent inflammatory cell infiltration into the liver. METRNL overexpression also suppressed liver CD4⁺ T cell differentiation into Th 1 cells and inhibited the secretion of Th 1 cytokines. Taken together, these data suggest that METRNL overexpression effectively ameliorates FH. Therefore, METRNL may serve as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for FH.