Interleukin-27 is a pleiotropic cytokine whose functions during bacterial infections remain controversial, and its role in patients with S. aureus osteomyelitis is unknown. To address this knowledge g Show more
Interleukin-27 is a pleiotropic cytokine whose functions during bacterial infections remain controversial, and its role in patients with S. aureus osteomyelitis is unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we completed a clinical study and observed elevated serum IL-27 levels (20-fold higher, Pā<ā0.05) in patients compared with healthy controls. Remarkably, IL-27 serum levels were 60-fold higher in patients immediately following septic death than in uninfected patients (Pā<ā0.05), suggesting a pathogenic role of IL-27. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated S. aureus osteomyelitis in WT and IL-27RĪ± Show less