Hydrogen peroxide producing potential of alveolar macrophages and blood monocytes in pulmonary tuberculosis.
Selvaraj, P.; Rajiswami, S.; Vijayan, V.K.; Prabhakar, R.; Narayanan, P.R.
Indian Journal of Medical Research; 1988; 88; 124-129.
Al veolar macrophages from patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, inactive tuberculosis (treated patients), non-tuberculous lung disease and from normal healthy individuals were tested for their ability to produce hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) upon stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) in vitro . PMA induced H 2 O 2 production was significantly higher in all the groups of patients studied when compared to the normal subjects. Among the four groups studied, the spontaneous release of H 2 O 2 was increased in the alveolar macrophages of smokers than non-smokers. There was no difference in the spontaneous and PMA induced H 2 O 2 production between the non-smoker group of the active tuberculosis patients and the normal non-smoker group. Further, the blood monocytes of the active pulmonary tuberculosis patients and those of normal controls were equally competent in production H 2 O 2 in vitro , upon stimulation with PMA. The study suggests that the increased production of hydrogen peroxide by alveolar macrophages is not specific for tuberculosis.
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