Surfactant protein A mediates mycoplasmacidal activity of alveolar macrophages

Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a leading cause of pneumonia and exacerbates other respiratory diseases in humans. We investigated the potential role of surfactant protein (SP) A in antimycoplasmal defense using alveolar macrophages (AMs) from C57BL/6NCr (C57BL) mice, which are highly resistant to infections of Mycoplasma pulmonis. C57BL AMs, activated with interferon (IFN)-γ and incubated with SP-A (25 μg/ml) at 37°C, produced significant amounts of nitric oxide (⋅ NO; nitrate and nitrite production = 1.1 μM ⋅ h−1⋅ 105AMs−1) and effected an 83% decrease in mycoplasma colony-forming units (CFUs) by 6 h postinfection. Preincubation of AMs with the inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-monomethyl-l-arginine abolished ⋅ NO production and SP-A-mediated killing of mycoplasmas. No decrease in CFUs was seen when IFN-γ-activated macrophages were infected with mycoplasmas in the absence of SP-A despite significant ⋅ NO production (nitrate and nitrite production = 0.6 μM ⋅ h−1⋅ 105AMs−1). These results demonstrate that SP-A mediates killing of mycoplasmas by AMs, possibly through an ⋅ NO-dependent mechanism.