Hydroxylation of phenylalanine and salicylate by stimulated polymorphonuclear leukocytes and the accelerating effect of glutathione on their hydroxylation.

Incubation of phorbol-myristate acetate-stimulated human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) with phenylalanine and salicylate induced significant levels of formation of o- and m-tyrosines, and 2,3- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoates (DHBAs), respectively, dependent on reaction time. Aromatic hydroxylation reactions were not inhibited by desferrioxamine, nor were they affected by the removal of trace ion contamination from the buffer solution used by treatment with conalbumin. Hydroxylation reactions were largely blocked by superoxide dismutase and hydroxyl radical (OH.) scavengers. The results of the present study suggest that the generation of OH. by human PMNs occurs during the respiratory burst. Hydroxylation of both phenylalanine and salicylate by stimulated human PMNs were significantly accelerated by incubation in the presence of the reduced form of glutathione (GSH). Hydroxylation of phenylalanine by stimulated guinea pig PMNs in the presence of GSH was significantly inhibited by desferrioxamine, although the same hydroxylation in the absence of GSH was not affected. Hydroxylation of phenylalanine by the hypoxanthine (HX)-xanthine oxidase (XO) system by intact PMNs was significantly accelerated by the addition of GSH, although that in the absence of PMNs was largely inhibited. Desferrioxamine showed an inhibitory effect on hydroxylation by the HX-XO system in the presence, but not in the absence, of intact PMNs. The results suggest that the formation of OH. by stimulated PMNs is accelerated by GSH, based on the occurrence of the Harber-Weiss reaction catalyzed by transition metal ions liberated and reduced by GSH from PMNs, and by the effective accumulation of H2O2 by the GSH-induced inhibition of catalase.