Protecting the kidney in sepsis: resident macrophages to the rescue

Kidney resident macrophages exert pro-inflammatory or reparative effects in experimental acute kidney injury, but their role in sepsis is unclear. In a mouse model of sepsis, Privratsky et al. show that kidney resident F4/80hi macrophages protect against kidney injury by expressing interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, which blocks interleukin-6 production selectively from endothelial cells. Discovery of this novel autocrine loop enhances opportunities for targeted therapies to diminish kidney injury during sepsis.