Čes-slov Pediat 2023, 78(4):231-237 | DOI: 10.55095/CSPediatrie2023/040

The role of neutrophils and neutrophil extracellular traps in renal diseases of bacterial originReview

Katarína Krivošíková¹, Ľubomíra Tóthová², Alexandra Gaál Kovalčíková^{1, 2}, Ľudmila Podracká¹

¹ Detská klinika, Lekárska fakulta Univerzity Komenského a Národného ústavu detských chorôb, Bratislava

² Ústav molekulárnej biomedicíny, Lekárska fakulta Univerzity Komenského, Bratislava

Neutrophils are a central component of the innate immune system. In recent years, neutrophils have gained considerable attention due to their newly discovered biological effector functions and their involvement in various pathological conditions. Neutrophils represent the first line of the immune system defense and act as a physical and chemical barrier against pathogens. Activated neutrophils can release contents - decondensed chromatin along with antimicrobial granular proteins creating neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). The NET formation is triggered by the contact with various pro-inflammatory stimuli, including microorganisms, cytokines, immune complexes, and others. Currently, we know two basic mechanisms of NET formation. The classical way is one of the forms of programmed cell death dependent on NADPH-oxidase; it is the best described mechanism. The second way of NET formation is characterized by a rapid cellular response to an external stimulus, whereby the trap is released without breaking the cell membrane, so that the neutrophil is not killed. While NETs are very effective at eliminating pathogens, they can also cause serious damage if released in excess or removed inefficiently. This review provides a simple and comprehensible view of the role of neutrophils and the mechanism of NET formation depending on various stimuli, and also summarizes the current knowledge on the role of NETs in the pathophysiology of urinary tract infections and hemolytic uremic syndrome induced by E. coli infection.

Keywords: innate immunity, kidney injury, inflammation, STEC-HUS, urinary tract infections

Published: July 1, 2023  Show citation