Two inhibitors of neutrophil chemotaxis are produced by hyperimmunoglobulin E recurrent infection syndrome mononuclear cells exposed to heat-killed staphylococci.

Mononuclear cells from normal volunteers and from patients with the hyperimmunoglobulin E recurrent infection syndrome (HIE) were cultured for 18 h with and without opsonized, heat-killed Staphylococcus aureus (OS). The supernatants from normal mononuclear cell cultures without OS revealed no inhibitory activity for neutrophil chemotaxis, whereas those from HIE patients revealed the previously reported 61,000-dalton factor. However, when normal cells were cultured with OS, they produced a proteinaceous, 56 degrees C-stable, 30,000- to 45,000-dalton factor which preferentially inhibited neutrophil versus monocyte chemotaxis. When HIE cells were exposed to OS, they produced the same 30,000- to 45,000-dalton factor as normal cells, as well as the 61,000-dalton factor that they produced spontaneously. Assay of 1,000-fold dilutions of supernatants from cultures of normal mononuclear cells with OS revealed a mean production of 7.8 +/- 5.4% inhibition of chemotaxis, whereas assay of 1,000-fold dilutions of supernatants from cultures of HIE mononuclear cells (spontaneously producing the 61,000-dalton factor) with OS revealed a 26.6 +/- 3.6% inhibition (P less than 0.02). The data indicate that in short-term culture both normal and HIE mononuclear cells produce an inhibitor of neutrophil chemotaxis when exposed to particulate heat-killed staphylococci but that HIE cells produce qualitatively and quantitatively more inhibitory activity.