Pancreatic Phospholipase A2 - Mediated Enhancement of the Respiratory Burst Response of Human Neutrophils

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of exogenously added pancreatic phos-pholipase A2 (pPLA2) on the production of reactive oxygen species by human polymorpho­ nuclear leukocytes (PMNs). Pancreatic PLA2 was used because PMNs do not possess a re­ ceptor for that enzyme and, therefore, the receptor-mediated effects could be excluded. Respiratory burst activity of PMNs was monitored by luminol-amplified chemiluminescence and the lipid composition of neutrophils after treatment with pPLA2 was determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Our results show that the products of the pPLA2 digestion of the PMN membrane -lysophospholipids and the corresponding free fatty acids -significantly enhanced the respiratory burst response of human neutrophils.