Effects of fibronectin and group B streptococci on tumour necrosis factor-alpha production by human culture-derived macrophages.

Group B streptococci (GBS) are an important cause of sepsis and shock in the new-born. We have previously reported that GBS induce the production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) by human monocytes and culture-derived macrophages. We have also shown that fibronectin (FN) promotes interaction between GBS and human phagocytes. In the present study, we investigated the effect of FN and GBS on the production of TNF-alpha by adult and neonatal culture-derived macrophages. We report that soluble FN alone was a strong stimulus for the production of TNF-alpha by culture-derived macrophages (FN 50 micrograms/ml = 623.33 +/- 47 pg/ml TNF, versus media alone 3 +/- 1.5 pg/ml; P < 0.0001). While GBS also induce the production of TNF-alpha by macrophages, the addition of FN to GBS had more than an additive effect on TNF-alpha levels. FN-mediated TNF-alpha production by macrophages was inhibited by both soluble arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptide (71%; P < 0.0001) and anti-beta 3-integrin monoclonal antibody 7G2 (54%; P < 0.0001). Neonatal culture-derived macrophages produced significantly more TNF-alpha in response to GBS (356.4 pg/ml +/- 27.7) than adult cells did (222.0 pg/ml +/- 21.0; P = 0.037), and dramatically more in response to FN alone (neonatal 1931.0 pg/ml +/- 23.0 versus adult 463.5 43.5 pg/ml; P < 0.0001). FN may contribute to the high levels of TNF-alpha production implicated in the pathophysiology of GBS sepsis and shock.