Effects of engineered IL-18BP on attenuation of MASH liver

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is a chronic liver disease associated with hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Inflammasome-mediated IL-18 signaling is enhanced under MASH condition. IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP) is a soluble protein that can block IL-18 actions and therapeutic potential of IL-18BP for MASH-induced fibrosis is largely unknown. We newly developed a human IL-18BP biologics (APB-R3) and injected it to mice to evaluate its pharmacologic efficacy. APB-R3 strikingly abolished hepatic fibrosis and reduced collagen markers. We further investigated whether APB-R3 could inhibit fibrotic activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). This study proposes that abrogation of IL-18 signaling by boosting IL-18BP can strongly inhibit the development of MASH-induced fibrosis and our engineered IL-18BP biologics can become promising therapeutic candidate for curing MASH. Overall design: C57BL/6J wild-type were fed FPC diet for 19 weeks. Drugs were administered from 11 to 19 weeks. 8 mg/kg of APB-R3 (SAFA-hIL18BP) were administered three times a week. Liver was havested after sacrifice of mice.