1997 Volume 22 Issue 3 Pages 183-191
Alveolar macrophages (AMs) may contribute to inflammation in multiple ways, including the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as superoxide anion (O2-) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This provides a basis for a plausible and testable hypothesis by which inflammation and the disease might be related; that is, the levels of ROS generated by inflammatory phagocytes might be dependent upon the type of disease. Alveolar macrophages were prepared from 25 lung cancer patients, 58.7±7.51 years of age (mean±SD). Alveolar macrophages from 12 patients, 45.3±14.6 years of age, with nonmalignant lung diseases were also studied. Production of oxygen radical species was higher in AMs from the malignant lobe of lung cancer patients than in those from the disease-free lobe. However, the levels in AMs from the disease-free lobe were comparable to the levels in AMs from patients with nonmalignant lung diseases. There was an increase in hydrogen peroxide formation in the cells from malignant lobe of lung cancer patients compared with that in those from the disease-free lobe (38.4±4.16 vs. 26.9±2.94nmol/mg). The formation in the cells from patients with nonmalignant lung diseases was found to be 18.0±1.19nmol/mg protein. In the presence of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, the formation in the cells from malignant lobe of lung cancer patients increased compared with that from the disease-free lobe (63.9±7.65 vs. 34.3±4.95nmol/mg protein), and the formation in the cells from patients with nonmalignant lung diseases was 42.5±5.03nmol/mg protein. The enormous increase in O2- and H2O2 production in malignancy needs further investigation for its diagnostic and prognostic values.
