Oxygen radical formation, proliferative activity and phagocytic capacity of cultivated macrophages from cirrhotic rat livers.

A method to isolate and cultivate macrophages from Macronodular-cirrhotic rat livers was developed in order to characterize them biochemically, by comparing various functional parameters in macrophage cell cultures from controls and cirrhotic livers. Cells were prepared from female Wistar rats, made cirrhotic by treatment with thioacetamide, by means of a pronase-collagenase digestion method followed by a nycodenz gradient and elutriation. The yield of macrophages was 8.9 x 10(6) cells/g for controls and 10.6 x 10(6) cells/g for cirrhotic livers. The vitality of the cells was > 95%. Forty-eight hours after cultivation, the purity of the cell fractions amounted to 94% and 91% in controls and in the experimental group, respectively. Nitric oxide synthesis was more markedly stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in cultures from cirrhotic livers than in those from controls (25 +/- 4 vs 5.8 +/- 1 nmol/10(6) cells/72 hours). Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) induced the nitric oxide synthase more rapidly in macrophage cultures from cirrhotic livers than in controls. The production of superoxide anions by macrophages from cirrhotic livers stimulated by zymosan was significantly lower by about 40% when compared with the controls. Incorporation of 3H-thymidine was increased to 250% in cultivated macrophages from thioacetamide-treated rats in comparison with macrophages from untreated animals. The stimulated phagocytic activity of cultivated macrophages from cirrhotic livers did not differ significantly from that of the controls. The data presented provide evidence that it is possible to isolate and to cultivate macrophages from macronodular-cirrhotic livers with high yield and vitality. They are characterized by enhanced proliferation, reduced formation of superoxide anions, and increased production of nitric oxide.