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Biomedical subjects

D B Drath

Publications and source records attributed to D B Drath.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Tobacco smoke. Effects on pulmonary host defense.

Tobacco smoke affected both the metabolism and function of pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAM). Phagocytosis of viable Staphylococcus aureus and inert starch particles was minimally but consistently depressed in PAM from rats exposed to tobacco smoke for six months. Oxygen consumption, superoxide and hydrogen peroxide release, and hexose monophosphate shunt activity were elevated in cells from smokers. Oxidation of glucose, labelled in the carbon-six position, remained unchanged. All observed effects of tobacco smoke on oxygen metabolism occurred during phagocytosis and did not affect the basal metabolism of the nonstimulated cell.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Metabolic and functional characteristics of alveolar macrophages recovered from rats exposed to marijuana smoke.

Pulmonary alveolar macrophages were obtained by bronchopulmonary lavage from male rats after 30 consecutive days of in vivo exposure to marijuana and tobacco smoke. No significant differences were found between either group of experimental animals and controls in the number of cells recovered, the protein content per 10(6) cells, or the percentage of cells that adhered to plastic surfaces. The ability of macrophages to phagocytize viable bacteria was not affected by exposure to either marijuana or tobacco smoke in that both treatment groups ingested Staphylococcus aureus over a 60-min period as well as did control cells. Differences were found between the groups, however, with respect to cellular metabolism. Marijuana smoke inhalation caused a small decrease in the amount of oxygen consumed by macrophages during phagocytosis, as compared with control cells. This may have been reflected in the even greater decrease in superoxide formation observed during particle engulfment by these treated cells. Tobacco smoke, on the other hand, increased oxygen consumption and was without effect on superoxide release. Neither tobacco nor marijuana smoke treatment had an effect on the direct oxidation of glucose via the hexose monophosphate shunt. Our results indicate that, despite several metabolic alterations in response to marijuana and tobacco smoke, alveolar macrophages were not compromised with respect to their ability to ingest a particulate challenge.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Hydroxyl radical formation in phagocytic cells of the rat.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and macrophages, harvested from the peritoneum and lung, release superoxide (O-.2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) during phagocytosis. These two agents are thought to react with each other to produce a highly active oxidative substance known as hydroxyl radical (OH.). We present evidence suggesting that these radicals are generated by phagocytic cells of the rat. Our findings are based upon an assay where ethylene gas is generated from methional by the action of this radical. Ethylene generation was shown to be inhibited by superoxide dismutase, catalase, and scavengers of OH.. Of the cells examined, PMN generated the most ethylene from methional, exhibiting a fourfold increase during phagocytosis. Pulmonary and peritoneal macrophages caused smaller amounts of this gas to be formed. Regardless of cell type, an intact cell was required for ethylene generation. Zymosan appeared to be the most effective particle for all cells in ethylene formation from methional, although opsonization was critical only for PMN. Ethylene generation was dependent on cell concentration to an extent and increased with time.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

The localization of catalase in the pulmonary alveolar macrophage.

A combined biochemical and cytochemical study of catalase was performed on alveolar macrophages lavaged from the lungs of adult male rats. Biochemically, catalase activity was present in both a high-speed granule fraction and in the supernatant. The granule-associated activity exhibited latency. Two methods of cell breakage, sonication and homogenization, yielded similar levels and distributions of catalase activity. Catalase activity in whole cells was identified cytochemically by the alkaline diaminobenzidine method and was localized within membrane-lined cytoplasmic granules similar in size to microperoxisomes and associated with cisternae of smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Localization of the reaction product was inhibited by 0.04 M aminotriazole, by cyanide, and by boiling prior to incubation. The cytochemical reaction continued in the absence of exogenous peroxide, but could be prevented by addition of catalase or pyruvate to the peroxide-free medium. Enzyme activity was also localized within a portion of the membrane-bound granules present in the cell fractions used for the biochemical assays.

Amitrole↗
PubMed1978

The effect of tobacco smoke on the metabolism and function of rat alveolar macrophages.

Alveolar macrophages harvested by bronchopulmonary lavage from rats exposed to tobacco smoke for 30 days ("smokers") showed alterations in oxidative metabolism, lactate production and phagocytosis of inert starch particles when compared with control macrophages. Phagocytosis of viable Staphylococcus aureus was unaffected by tobacco smoke. Glucose oxidation measured by conversion of glucose-1-14C to 14CO2 moderately affected while oxidation of glucose-6-14C to 14CO2 was not. Smokers routinely yielded fewer cells than controls, though these cells contained approximately 17% more protein than did controls. Opsonization of particles was not necessary for macrophages from either smoker or control animals to manifest a respiratory burst and increased superoxide and hydrogen peroxide release during phagocytosis. The glycolytic inhibitors, sodium fluoride and iodoacetamide, while effectively blocking glycolysis, did not inhibit phagocytosis by macrophages from either group. The results reported clearly distinguish alveolar macrophages from other phagocytic cells (peritoneal macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes) and suggest a state of non-specific activation caused by exposure to tobacco smoke.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Superoxide production by phagocytic leukocytes.

Mononuclear phagocytic leukocytes, as well as polymorphonuclear leukocytes, produce and release superoxide at rest, and this is stimulated by phagocytosis. Of the mouse monocytic cells studied, alveolar macrophages released the largest amounts of superoxide during phagocytosis, followed by normal peritoneal macrophages. Casein-elicited and "activated" macrophages released smaller quantities. In the guinea pig, polymorphonuclear leukocytes and casein-elicited macrophages were shown to release superoxide during phagocytosis whereas alveolar macrophages did not. Superoxide release accounted for only a small fraction of the respiratory burst of phagocytosis in all but the normal mouse peritoneal macrophage, the guinea pig polymorphonuclear leukocyte, and probably the mouse alveolar macrophage. There are obviously considerable species differences in O2-release by various leukocytes that might reflect both the production and/or destruction (e.g. by dismutase) of that substance.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Localization of NADH oxidase on the surface of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes by a new cytochemical method.

The ultrastructural localization of NADH oxidase, a possible enzyme in the increased oxidative activity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) during phagocytosis, was studied. A new cytochemical technique for the localization of H2O2, a product of NADH oxidase activity, was developed. Cerous ions, in the presence of peroxide, form an electron-dense precipitate. Resting and phagocytically stimulated PMN were exposed to cerous ions at pH 7.5 to demonstrate sites of NADH-dependent, cyanide-insensitive H2O2 production. Resting PMN exhibites slight activity on the plasma membrane; phagocytizing PMN had extensive deposits of reaction product localized within the phagosome and on the plasma membrane. Peroxide involvement was demonstrated by the inhibitory effect of catalase on cerium precipitation; the surface localization of the enzyme responsible was confirmed by using nonpenetrating inhibitors of enzymatic activity. A correlative study was performed with an NADH-dependent, tetrazolium-reduction system. As with cerium, formazan deposition on the surface of the cell was NADH dependent, cyanide insensitive, and stimulated by phagocytosis. Superoxide dismutase did not inhibit tetrazolium reduction, as observed cytochemically, indicating direct enzymatic dye reduction without superoxide interposition. These findings, combined with oxygen consumption studies on resting and stimulated PMN in the presence or absence of NADH, indicate that NADH oxidase is a surface enzyme in human PMN. It is internalized during phagocytosis and retains its peroxide-generating capacity within the phagocytic vacuole.

Animals↗
PubMed1974

Bactericidal activity of metal-mediated peroxide-ascorbate systems.

Model systems containing ascorbate, hydrogen peroxide, and divalent copper or cobalt have been shown to possess marked bactericidal activity. At equivalent concentrations, copper-containing systems were more bactericidal than the corresponding mixtures containing cobalt. Cobalt at concentrations below 10(-4) M did not appreciably augment microbicidal activity, whereas systems containing copper at concentrations as low as 5 x 10(-6) M were still capable of causing some bacterial death. Manganese was inactive. None of these systems was as potent as the well known myeloperoxidase-peroxide-halide system. The mechanisms of action of these systems are not as yet clear. The possibility that they function through the generation of superoxide (O(2) (-)), hydroxyl radical (OH.), or other free radicals was explored through the use of superoxide dismutase and several free radical scavengers. It seems likely at present that the two active metal-mediated systems function via separate mechanisms. The copper system acts with dehydroascorbate, whereas the cobalt system does not. Activity in the cobalt system appears to depend upon the generation of free radicals.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of chronic exposure to tobacco smoke on the antibacterial defenses of the lung.

To evaluate the effects of cigarette smoking on the host defenses of the lung, male CD rats were exposed to fresh whole smoke for up to 60 consecutive days. Intrapulmonary deposition of smoke and animal exposure levels, quantified with decachlorobiphenyl and other smoke tracers, indicated a daily cigarette exposure equivalent to approximately a pack and a half per day in man. Pulmonary alveolar macrophage function in situ was quantified by the inactivation of an aerosolized challenge of Staphylococcus aureus six hours after inoculation. Controls (n=120) inactivated 88.8+/-0.64% of the staphylococci. Exposure to whole smoke did not impair intrapulmonary antistaphylococcal defenses, with inactivation rates of 89.8+/-0.97% (n=49) and 89.1+/-0.46% (n=74) at 30 and 60 days, respectively. Inactivation distribution frequency analysis in controls revealed that 7% of animals had inactivation values greater than two standard deviations from the mean. With prolonged exposure mean with less skewing towards the abnormal. Alveolar macrophages harvested from smoked animals were comparable in viability and in vitro antistaphylococcal activity to controls, appeared to be metabolically activated and had specific stereologic ultrastructural alterations. These studies indicate that chronic exposure to tobacco smoke does not impair, and in fact may stimulate, the host defenses of the lung, as evaluated by in vivo and in vitro pulmonary alveolar macrophage function.

Animals↗