leukotriene-b4 and Agranulocytosis

Intravenous infusion of granulocyte (PMNL) chemotactic factors including C5ades Arg present in zymosan activated plasma (ZAP), induces granulocytopenia due to PMNL margination. Since some PMNL responses are dependent on Ca++ ions and lipoxygenation of arachidonic acid, we evaluated the effects of a lipoxygenase (and cyclooxygenase) inhibitor, BW755C and Ca++ channel blocking agents, verapamil and nifedipine, on chemotactic factor induced granulocytopenia and margination in rabbits. BW755C (20 mg/kg i.v.) treatment significantly attenuated ZAP induced granulocytopenia. Verapamil or nifedipine alone were without effect. However, combined treatment with BW755C and verapamil or nifedipine (250 micrograms/kg) completely prevented ZAP-induced granulocytopenia. Ibuprofen, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, was without effect either by itself or in combination with the calcium channel blockers. In striking contrast to the effect on ZAP-induced granulocytopenia, BW755C plus verapamil or nifedipine had virtually no effect on f-met-leu-phe, platelet activating factor or leukotriene B4 induced granulocytopenia. PMNL aggregation in vitro in response to all of the above chemotactic factors was inhibited by BW775C to similar degrees (56-75%) and was not influenced by simultaneous treatment with verapamil. We conclude that: (a) inhibitors of the lipoxygenase pathway may synergize with Ca++ channel blocking agents in inhibiting PMNL responses to complement derived chemotactic factors in vivo; (b) that in vivo PMNL margination to other chemotactic factors may be less dependent on endogenous lipoxygenation and/or Ca++ fluxes; and (c) there is a poor correlation between pharmacological inhibition of PMNL aggregation in vitro and PMNL margination in vivo in this system.

Topics: 4,5-Dihydro-1-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-1H-pyrazol-3-amine; Agranulocytosis; Animals; Calcium; Calcium Channel Blockers; Cell Aggregation; Chemotactic Factors; Complement System Proteins; Female; Granulocytes; In Vitro Techniques; Leukotriene B4; Lipoxygenase Inhibitors; N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine; Platelet Activating Factor; Pyrazoles; Rabbits; Verapamil

5(S), 12(S)-Dihydroxy-cis-14,trans-6,8,10-eicosatetraenoate (compound I), 5(S),12(R)-dihydroxy-cis-14,trans-6,8,10-eicosatetraenoate (compound II), and 5(S),12(R)-dihydroxy-cis-6,14,trans-8,10-eicosatetraenoate (compound III) were prepared from rabbit peritoneal neutrophils challenged with arachidonic acid plus ionophore A23187. Each arachidonate metabolite caused rabbit neutrophils to aggregate and, in cells treated with cytochalasin B, release granule-bound enzymes. Compound III was 10- to 100-fold more potent than compounds II and I. When intravenously infused into rabbits at doses of 100--1,000 ng/kg, compound III induced abrupt, profound, transient neutropenia associated with a rapidly reversing accumulation of neutrophils in the pulmonary circulation. This in vivo action correlated closely with the ability of the fatty acid to activate neutrophils in vitro: neutropenia, aggregation, and degranulation occurred at similar doses of stimulus and the rapid, reversing kinetics of the neutropenic response paralleled the equally rapid, reversing formation of aggregates. The fatty acid did not alter the circulating levels of lymphocytes or platelets and did not aggregate platelets in vitro. At comparable doses (i.e., 100--1,000 ng/kg), compounds I and II did not cause neutropenia. Thus, compound III possesses a high degree of structural and target-cell specificity in stimulating neutrophils in vitro and in vivo. Clinical and experimental syndromes associating neutropenia with increased levels of circulating arachidonate metabolites may involve compound III as a mediator of neutrophil sequestration in lung.

Topics: Agranulocytosis; Animals; Arachidonic Acids; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Infusions, Parenteral; Leukotriene B4; Lung; Neutropenia; Neutrophils; Rabbits