Activation of equine neutrophils by phorbol myristate acetate or N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine induces a different response in reactive oxygen species production and release of active myeloperoxidase

Neutrophil (PMN) contribution to the acute inflammatory processes may lead to an excessive generation of reactive oxygen metabolites species (ROS) and secretion of granule enzymes. We compared the effects of either phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP) in combination with a pre-treatment by cytochalasin B (CB) on the production of ROS and the release of total and active myeloperoxidase (MPO) by isolated equine PMNs. The ROS production was assessed by lucigenin dependent chemiluminescence (CL) and ethylene release by α-keto-γ-methylthiobutyric acid (KMB) oxidation. In the supernatant of activated PMNs, total equine MPO was measured by ELISA and active MPO by the SIEFED (Specific Immunologic Extraction Followed by Enzymatic Detection) technique that allows for the study of the interaction of a compound directly with the enzyme. The stimulation of PMNs with CB-fMLP only modestly increased the release of MPO, but more than 70% of released MPO was active. PMA stimulation markedly increased the production of ROS and release of MPO, but more than 95% of released MPO was inactive. When PMNs were pre-incubated with superoxide dismutase (SOD) prior to PMA activation, the lucigenin enhanced CL, which is linked to the superoxide anion (O₂⁻) production, was much more decreased than KMB oxidation, linked to the hydroxyl-like radical production. The addition of SOD prior to the activation of PMNs by PMA also limited the loss of the activity of released MPO. These results confirm the key role of O₂⁻ generation in the ROS cascade in PMN and reveal its critical role on MPO inactivation.