Relationship between bactericidal and phagocytic activities of peritoneal macrophages induced by irritants.

Cellular accumulation to the peritoneal cavity and modification of various functions of peritoneal macrophages were observed in mice injected intraperitoneally (ip) with thioglycollate medium (TG), liquid paraffin, proteose peptone and Corynebacterium parvum. The cellular composition of peritoneal exudates at 4 days after injection of irritants was almost the same in all the groups and the proportion of macrophages was increased approximately 4 times more than nontreated controls. The ability to kill Listeria monocytogenes and to generate chemiluminescence (CL) were augmented strongly in C. parvum-induced macrophages, while depressed in TG-induced macrophages. The activities of liquid paraffin- or proteose peptone-induced macrophages were almost the same as those in nontreated controls. However, the ability to phagocytose native sheep erythrocytes was greatly augmented both in C. parvum- and TG-induced macrophages. There is thus a discrepancy between bactericidal activity and phagocytic activity among macrophages induced with various irritants.