Chemiluminescence of polymorphonuclear leukocytes from rheumatoid joints.

Chemiluminescence (CL) was used to measure the oxidative burst of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) from peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) of patients with inflammatory arthritis. The basal CL of SFPMNL was greater than that of PBPMNL. Opsonized zymosan, N-formyl methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP), cell-free inflammatory SF and heat aggregated human IgG (HAIG) all stimulated PMNL CL but the response of SFPMNL to HAIG or to reexposure to SF was greater than that of PBPMNL. This enhanced responsiveness of SFPMNL to HAIG could be induced in PBPMNL by preincubation with chemotactic concentrations of FMLP. These studies suggest a mechanism by which PMNL migrating to sites of inflammation may become sensitized to a subsequent stimulation by soluble immune complexes at the inflammatory site.