IL-18 promotes surgical recovery by mobilizing monocytes and promoting their differentiation while avoiding inflammation [RNA-seq]

Innate immune activation upon surgery serves as a protective mechanism, its orchestration and timely resolution is essential for patient recovery. We investigated the determinants associated with recovery after orthopedic surgery including monocyte and cytokine signature. Blood samples from orthopedic surgery (ORT) patients were collected before (T0), and 24 h (T1) and 3-5 days (T2) after surgery. Bulk RNAseq of peripheral blood monocyte samples was performed in order to delinate the profile of monocytes in each of the time points. The bulk RNAseq data evealed upregulated genes controlling immune cell migration and differentiation, but not of pro-inflammatory genes in T2. In order to investigate the determinants of patient recovery, peripheral blood monocytes were isolated from ORT patients at T0, T1 and T2. Differential gene expression analysis from RNAseq data from ORT patient monocytes, isolated in T0, T1 and T2