Human Granulocyte LTB4 Production and Respiratory Burst Impaired by Styrene

Abstract

Human granulocytes (PMN) incubated in vitro with styrene at a concentration of 3.3 x 10^-4 M have shown an impairment of leucotriene B4 (LTB4) production and of respiratory burst after stimulation with N-formyl-methyonil-leucyl-phenylalanine peptide (nFMLP), which has a specific membrane receptor. The level of impairment in LTB4 production was lower in cells pretreated for 15 minutes with styrene than in cells treated with styrene and nFMLP simultaneously. Styrene did not cause irreversible damage, because 15 minutes after styrene treatment PMN partially recovered their function. The determination of styrene and styrene oxide, the presumed active metabolite, in the supernatant of cell culture, showed that styrene rapidly enters the cell and only 15 minutes or more after styrene addition was styrene oxide found. On this basis, the action of styrene does not seem to be mediated by metabolites.

Keywords

granulocyte respiratory burst LTB4 styrene

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Grayson

M.H.

, and Gill

S.S.

(1986). Effect of in vitro exposure to styrene, styrene oxide, and other structurally related compounds on murine cell-mediated immunity. Immunopharmacology 11, 165–173.

Barnes

M.C.

, Streips

U.N.

, and Sonnenfeld

(1981). Effect of carcinogens and analogs on interferon induction. Oncology 38, 98–101.

Governa

, Valentino

, Visona'

, & Rocco

(1986). Impairment of human polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemotaxis by 2,5-hexanedione. Cell Biology and Toxicology 2, 33–39.

Colin

, and Sirios

(1986). Determination of styrene in biological samples by reversed-phase liquid cromatography. Journal of Cromatography 375, 431–437.

Marchiseppe

, Postiglione

M.R.

, di Carlo

, and Valentino

(1988). LTB4 production in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes incubated with nFMLP. Bollettino Societa’ Italiana Biologia Sperimentale, 64, 501–506.

Dahlgren

, Aniansson

, and Magnusson

K.E.

(1985). Pattern of formylmethionil-leucylphenylalanine-induced luminol and lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence in human neutrophils. Infection and Immunity 47, 326–328.

Parks

D.R.

, Bryan

V.M.

, Oi

V.T.

, and Herzenberg

L.A.

(1979). Antigen-specific identification and cloning of hybridomas with a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 76, 1962–1966.

Norppa

, Sorsa

, Pf Ffli

, and Vainio

(1980). Styrene and styrene oxide induce SCEs and are metabolised in human lymphocyte cultures. Carcinogenesis 1, 357–361.

Loose

L.D.

, Silkworth

J.B.

, and Simpson

D.W.

(1978). Influence of cadmium on the phagocitic and microbicidal activity of murine peritoneal macrophages, pulmonary alveolar macrophages, and polymorphonuclear neutrophil. Infection and Immunity 22, 379–381.

10.

Governa

, Valentino

, & Visona'

(1987). In vitro impairment of human granulocyte functions by lead. Archives of Toxicology 59, 421–425.

11.

Woodin

A.M.

, and Harris

(1973). The inhibition of locomotion of the polymorphonuclear leukocyte by organophosphorus compounds. Experimental Cell Research 77, 41–46.

12.

Governa

, Valentino

, Rocco

, Bertoli

, and Zolese

(1987). Inhibition of chemotactic activity of PMN by arsenic: a membrane mediated effect. In Developments in Analytical Methods in Pharmaceutical Biomedical and Forensic Sciences (ed. Piemonte

, Tagliaro

, Frigerio

, Marigo

), pp. 297–302. New York: Plenum Press.