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A variety of supernatants were prepared by stimulating rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss head kidney macrophages with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), or a leucocyte-derived macrophage-activating factor (I-MAF), individually and in combination. If generated using a 12-h stimulation period, such supernatants were found to elevate significantly the respiratory burst activity of target macrophages; that is, they contained a macrophage-derived MAF (m-MAF), but supernatants generated using a shorter incubation period showed no significant activity. Combinations of these treatments were particularly effective in generating m-MAF-containing supernatants. The elevation of respiratory burst activity by supernatants generated using combined treatments could be partially inhibited by prior treatment of the target macrophages with anti-TNF-alpha receptor 1 (TNFR1) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Similarly, treatment of macrophages with combinations of 1-MAF and m-MAF generated supernatants with potent m-MAF activity and this activity was partially inhibited by prior treatment of the target cells with anti-TNFR1 mAb. In addition, the presence of anti-transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) serum while generating these latter supernatants resulted in significantly increased m-MAF activity. Such data suggest that fish leukocytes secrete a variety of potent macrophage-activating (TNF-alpha) and -deactivating (TGF-beta) factors.

Mycoplasmas and mycoplasma membranes have been shown to induce the production of inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-6, as well as nitric oxide, by mouse macrophages and rat brain astrocytes. Luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence was used as a sensitive method to show that Mycoplasma capricolum membranes induce mouse peritoneal macrophages to produce reactive oxygen radicals. Coincubation of the mycoplasma with a secondary stimulus, namely macrophage-activating factor or interferon-gamma, increased the chemiluminescence. The augmentation was abolished by the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-methyl-L-arginine, indicating the involvement of nitric oxide. The coproduction of superoxide and nitric oxide by the same cell allows the formation of the powerful oxidant peroxynitrite, which could be responsible for the increased chemiluminescence. Induction of oxidizing radicals by mycoplasmas may contribute to the clinical pathology seen in mycoplasma infections.

We investigated the effect of individual phospholipids contained in pulmonary surfactant (PS) on the macrophage-activating factor (MAF)-induced priming of rabbit alveolar macrophages (AMs) for oxidative responses elicited by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or opsonized zymosan (Op-Zym). AMs were incubated with MAF with or without phospholipids for 18 h. After incubation, oxidative responses were elicited with PMA (0.5 micrograms/ml) or Op-Zym (250 micrograms/ml) and monitored by chemiluminescence (CL) assays. The data indicate that natural surfactant inhibited MAF-induced priming of rabbit AMs for PMA- or Op-Zym-elicited oxidative responses. Artificial surfactant inhibited PMA-elicited CL responses but enhanced Op-Zym-elicited CL responses. Individual phospholipids differed in modulative activities. Dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine (DOPC), dipalmitoyl phosphatidylglycerol (DPPG), and phosphatidylinositol (PI) inhibited MAF-induced priming when the oxidative responses were elicited with PMA. Whereas DPPG inhibited Op-Zym-elicited oxidative responses, dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and DOPC primed AMs for increased Op-Zym-elicited oxidative responses. DOPC did not affect the binding of phorbol dibutyrate to AMs, which suggests that reduced cell binding of phorbol ester was not responsible for the inhibition of PMA-elicited oxidative responses in AMs treated with DOPC. Similarly, DPPC, DOPC, and DPPG did not affect the number of zymosan particles phagocytosed by AMs compared to the control, which suggested that enhanced or reduced Op-Zym-elicited oxidative responses by phospholipids were not due to altered phagocytic activity of AMs. In conclusion, our data indicate that individual surfactant phospholipid differently modulates priming of AMs for oxidative responses, and the effect of individual phospholipids does not account for the effect of complete PS on priming of AMs.