Killing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Neutrophils: A Nonoxidative Process

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 162; no. 3; pp. 700 - 704
• Main Authors: Jones, Gerald S., Amirault, Harold J., Andersen, Burton R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01-09-1990; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Catalase - pharmacology; Enzymes; Free Radicals; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Granulomatous Disease, Chronic - immunology; Humans; Hydrogen Peroxide - immunology; Macrophages; Major Articles; Microbiology; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - immunology; Neutrophils; Neutrophils - immunology; Oxidation-Reduction; Pathogenicity, virulence, toxins, bacteriocins, pyrogens, host-bacteria relations, miscellaneous strains; Phagocytosis; Reactive oxygen species; Superoxide Dismutase - pharmacology; Superoxides; Superoxides - immunology; Tuberculosis; Viability; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycobacteriales; Mycobacteriaceae; Bacteria; Cytotoxicity; Actinomycetes; Neutrophil; In vitro; Phagocytosis
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/162.3.700

To determine the role of oxygen radicals in the killing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by neutrophils, the effects of free-radical inhibitors and enzymes, catalase, superoxide dismutase, taurine, deferoxamine, and histidine were evaluated. Changes in the viability of M. tuberculosis were determined by agar plate colony counts and a radiometric assay. No impairment in killing was seen with any of the inhibitors or enzymes. Patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) have a defect in the NADPH oxidase pathway, causing their neutrophils to be unable to generate oxygen radicals . Ifthese radicals are involved in killing, thenCGD neutrophils should be less effective killers of M. tuberculosis than normal neutrophils. There was no evidence by either measure of M. tuberculosis viability that CGD neutrophils were less bactericidal than normal neutrophils. Killing by normal neutrophils was also effective in the absence of serum. These results lead to the conclusion that the mechanism by which M. tuberculosis is killed by neutrophils is independent of the oxygen metabolic burst.