Hypoxic exposure triggers a generation of reactive oxygen species that initiate free radical damage to the lung. Hydrogen peroxide is the product of alveolar macrophages detectable in the expired breath. We evaluated the significance of breath H2O2 concentration for the assessment of lung damage after hypoxic exposure and during posthypoxic period. Adult male rats were exposed to normobaric hypoxia (10 % O2) for 3 hours or 5 days. Immediately after the hypoxic exposure and then after 7 days or 14 days of air breathing, H2O2 was determined in the breath condensate and in isolated lung macrophages. Lipid peroxidation was measured in lung homogenates. Three-hour hypoxia did not cause immediate increase in the breath H2O2; 5-day hypoxia increased breath H2O2 level to 458 %. After 7 days of subsequent air breathing H2O2 was elevated in both groups exposed to hypoxia. Increased production of H2O2 by macrophages was observed after 5 days of hypoxia and during the 7 days of subsequent air breathing. Lipid peroxidation increased in the periods of enhanced H2O2 generation by macrophages. As the major increase (1040 %) in the breath H2O2 concentration found 7 days after 3 hours of hypoxia was not accompanied by lipid peroxidation, it can be concluded that the breath H2O2 is not a reliable indicator of lung oxidative damage., J. Wilhelm, M. Vaňková, H. Maxová, A. Šišková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We have studied in vitro alveolar macrophages (AMs) obtained by tracheobronchial lavage from rats exposed to subacute (3 hours and 3 days) and chronic (3 weeks) hypoxia (Fi02 = 0.1) and from rats recovering from chronic hypoxia. Hydrogen peroxide production by AMs was measured by luminol- depcndent chemiluminescence after AMs adhered to the walls of the measuring cuvette, after stimulation with phorbol-myristate-acetate (PMA), and when N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylanine (FMLP) was added subsequently to the cells which had been previously stimulated by adherence or PMA. H2O2 production after cell adherence and adherence combined with FMLP stimulation did not differ between the groups. The increase of H2O2 production after adding PMA, and FMLP in addition to PMA was significantly higher in AMs from rats exposed to hypoxia for 3 days than in the controls. Other experimental groups did not differ from their controls. It is concluded that 3 days’ hypoxia primes AMs for enhanced production of H2O2 upon stimulation. The mechanism is probably at the level of synthesis of proteins involved in H2O2 production, or the shift to a more reactive phenotype of alveolar macrophages subpopulations.
Production of hydrogen peroxide by rat lung alveolar macrophages represents one of the key events in the inflammatory process. For the interpretation of the in vitro measurements it is important to control all possible interfering influences. The present work documents that the type of anaesthesia might critically influence the observed results. H2O2 production was measured in isolated rat alveolar macrophages by luminol chemiluminescence catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase. Three different mechanisms of H2O2 production were observed after stimulation of cells with a chemotactic peptide (FMLP), phorbol ester (PMA), and during cell adherence. All these activities were influenced independently by the treatment with barbiturates, which both stimulated or inhibited the H2O2 production, depending on the barbiturate concentration. As the effective barbiturate concentrations were found to be within the range used for the anaesthesia of experimental animals, the presented results imply that barbiturates are not suitable for experiments in which the production of reactive oxygen species by phagocytes is measured, and that other anaesthetics should be tested.