Effects of cetiedil on the oxidative metabolism of activated polymorphonuclear leucocytes.

Cetiedil, alpha-cyclohexyl-3-thiopheneacetic acid 2-(hexahydro-lH-azepin-l-yl)-ethyl ester, was found to specifically suppress oxygen uptake by polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) that were exposed to myristate or heat-killed E. coli. The chemical had no effect on the basal respiration rate of PMN in the resting state. Inhibition of oxygen uptake by cetiedil was proportionate to the degree of inhibition of the generation of O-2 and H2O2. It was also found that cetiedil suppressed the rate of the phagocytosis by PMN of opsonized oil droplets. Cetiedil had no effect on subcellular NADPH oxidase, an enzyme responsible for the respiratory burst that is activated by the perturbation of PMN plasma membrane with phagocytable particles or stimulators such as myristate. These results suggest that cetiedil affects the trigger mechanism of the plasma membrane to inhibit the activation of NADPH oxidase.