Enhanced superoxide anion release of normal neutrophil granulocytes primed with sera of patients with inactive inflammatory bowel disease.

During active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) the respiratory burst of neutrophil granulocytes has been shown to be impaired using isolated circulating neutrophil granulocytes of patients with active disease. Using normal neutrophil granulocytes of healthy volunteers the present study examines the potential priming effect of sera of patients with active and quiescent IBD. The superoxide anion (O2-)-release of normal neutrophil granulocytes in response to N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) has been investigated after incubation with sera of patients with active and inactive Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. O2(-)-release was measured using the superoxide dismutase inhibitable reduction of ferricytochrome c. The O2(-)-release of normal neutrophil granulocytes primed with sera of patients with inactive Crohn's disease (607.1 +/- 218.2 nmol/60 min, n = 10, p = 0.001) or cultured with sera of patients with quiescent ulcerative colitis (497.4 +/- 94.9 nmol/60 min, n = 3, p = 0.005) was significantly enhanced when compared with sera of normal controls (319.8 +/- 86.5 nmol/60 min, n = 10). There was no significant difference between priming with sera of patients with quiescent or active Crohn's disease (481.0 +/- 113.0 nmol/60 min, n = 5). Normal neutrophil granulocytes primed with sera of patients with active ulcerative colitis produce significantly larger amounts of O2- (809.5 +/- 256.9 nmol/60 min, n = 4, p = 0.001) when compared with sera of normal controls. The study shows that sera of patients with quiescent IBD as well as sera of patients with active disease have the potential to prime normal neutrophil granulocytes for an enhanced O2(-)-release in response to FMLP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)