Abstract
The effect of carnitine, a drug that plays an essential role in mitochondria metabolism, on some of the most important human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) activation steps including modulation of adhesion molecule density, reactive oxygen species production, and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNFα) production was investigated. The capability of carnitine in protecting PMN from deter ioration on storage was also studied. Data shows that carnitine exerts considerable effects on all PMN functions investigated. Although the ultimate effect was often donor dependent, TNFα production was exceptional in that carnitine was able to consistently reduce TNFα production in Staphylococcus aureus stimulated PMN in a clear dose-dependent fashion. It is concluded that carnitine may represent a useful active agent in situations characterized by PMN mobilization/activation.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (415.2 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Biselli R., Matricardi P. M., D'Amelio R., Fattorossi A. Multiparametric flow cytometric analysis of the kinetics of surface molecule expression after polyclonal activation of human peripheral blood T lymphocytes. Scand J Immunol. 1992 Apr;35(4):439–447. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1992.tb02879.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cerami A. Inflammatory cytokines. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1992 Jan;62(1 Pt 2):S3–10. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(92)90035-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cress A. P., Fraker P. J., Bieber L. L. Carnitine and acylcarnitine levels of human peripheral blood lymphocytes and mononuclear phagocytes. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1989 Aug 18;992(2):135–139. doi: 10.1016/0304-4165(89)90001-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Darzynkiewicz Z., Staiano-Coico L., Melamed M. R. Increased mitochondrial uptake of rhodamine 123 during lymphocyte stimulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Apr;78(4):2383–2387. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.4.2383. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fattorossi A., Nisini R., Le Moli S., De Petrillo G., D'Amelio R. Flow cytometric evaluation of nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Cytometry. 1990;11(8):907–912. doi: 10.1002/cyto.990110809. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jagels M. A., Hugli T. E. Neutrophil chemotactic factors promote leukocytosis. A common mechanism for cellular recruitment from bone marrow. J Immunol. 1992 Feb 15;148(4):1119–1128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Klebanoff S. J., Olszowski S., Van Voorhis W. C., Ledbetter J. A., Waltersdorph A. M., Schlechte K. G. Effects of gamma-interferon on human neutrophils: protection from deterioration on storage. Blood. 1992 Jul 1;80(1):225–234. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]