The chemiluminescent response of bovine polymorphonuclear leucocytes isolated from milk and blood.

Polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) were isolated from milk and blood of healthy cows, and the generation of reactive oxygen by the two cell populations was compared by measuring chemiluminescence (CL) after stimulation with zymosan. The ratio of milk to blood PMN CL was relatively constant in a given animal, but varied widely between different cows, ranging from 0.3 to 1.3. The relative contributions of various oxygen species to CL was studied by measuring quenching using different oxygen scavengers. While the relative contributions of H202, -02 and '02 seemed to be similar in both milk and blood PMN, the OH. radical was clearly more prominent in PMN isolated from milk than from blood. In addition, blood PMN CL was more dependent on the presence of glucose in the reaction medium than milk PMN CL. Furthermore, the CL response to phorbol myristate acetate, to the Ca ionophore A23187 and to Sendai virus was different in the two cell types. The results suggest that CL generation in milk PMN differs from that in blood PMN in quantitative as well as qualitative aspects.