Hibernation consists of alternating periods of reduced metabolism (torpor) with brief periods of metabolism similar to summer euthermia (arousal). The function of the innate immune system is reduced during hibernation, of which the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here, we studied neutrophil functionality during hibernation in Syrian hamsters. The inflammatory response to LPS-induced endotoxemia is inhibited in hibernation, partly mediated by reduced IL-6 production in early arousal. Furthermore, neutrophil pathogen binding, phagocytosis and oxidative burst is profoundly reduced in early arousal. Functionality of both summer and early arousal neutrophils was repressed in plasma from early arousal and mixed plasma from early arousal and summer euthermic, but restored by summer euthermic plasma, signifying that a plasma factor in early arousal inhibits TLR-recognition. Identification of the inhibiting factor may offer a target to modulate neutrophil function with relevance to (auto-)inflammatory diseases.

冬眠由新陈代谢降低（麻木）和类似于夏季体温正常（觉醒）的短暂新陈代谢交替组成。冬眠期间先天免疫系统的功能降低，其潜在机制尚不完全清楚。在这里，我们研究了叙利亚仓鼠冬眠期间的中性粒细胞功能。对 LPS 诱导的内毒素血症的炎症反应在冬眠时受到抑制，部分原因是早期觉醒时 IL-6 产生减少。此外，中性粒细胞病原体结合、吞噬作用和氧化爆发在早期觉醒中显着降低。夏季和早期唤醒中性粒细胞的功能在早期唤醒的血浆和早期唤醒和夏季正常体温的混合血浆中受到抑制，但通过夏季正常体温血浆恢复，表明早期唤醒中的血浆因子抑制 TLR 识别。抑制因子的鉴定可以提供一个靶点来调节与（自身）炎症性疾病相关的中性粒细胞功能。