Oxidant-antioxidant balance in alveolar macrophages from newborn rats.

An oxidant-antioxidant imbalance in neonatal alveolar macrophages (AMs) may contribute to the increased susceptibility to lung injury described in the neonatal period. We therefore evaluated oxygen radical production by rat AMs at various postnatal ages, and measured in parallel cellular antioxidant enzyme activities. AMs were obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage from rats aged < 24 h, 21 days and 5 weeks, and results were compared to those obtained with adult rat AMs. Intracellular production of oxygen radical species, estimated fluorometrically using 2',5'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate as the substrate, was significantly reduced in neonates as compared with adults, both in the presence and in the absence of cell stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or opsonized zymosan. A similar pattern was observed for the extracellular release of oxygen radical species, evaluated by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) or peroxidase-catalysed CL oxidation of luminol: peak CL values measured after cell stimulation with PMA or opsonized zymosan remained significantly lower for AMs from newborn rats than for AMs from adults. By contrast, high values for antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) in AMs were demonstrated in newborns as compared to adults. We conclude that high antioxidant activity in rat AMs after birth may be at least partly responsible for the low production of oxygen metabolites observed during the same period.