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Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) from human colostrum were compared with blood and oral exudate PMN from the same donors for their locomotive, respiratory burst, phagocytic, and shape change (polarization) capabilities. Blood PMN were functionally superior to PMN from other sites. Colostrum PMN were similar to oral exudate PMN in all areas except locomotive responses. Exposure of blood PMN to aqueous human colostrum resulted in decreased stimulated adherence to plastic, decreased bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus, reversible induction of cellular shape change, and reversible decreases in cellular deformability. The colostrum effects on PMN shape change and deformability were accompanied by significant increases in cytoskeleton-associated actin. PMN isolated from colostrum have suppressed functions, consistent with their being exudate cells. In addition, the colostrum environment effectively suppresses multiple functions in PMN from blood, these effects being mediated in part by rapid cytoskeletal assembly. PMN in colostrum do not appear to be beneficial to the breast-fed infant due to deficiencies in function.

During a phase I trial of the genetically engineered hematopoietic growth factor PIXY321 (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor/interleukin-3 [IL-3] fusion protein), we examined the effects of PIXY321 treatment on human polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) locomotive, respiratory burst, and phagocytic responses. PIXY321 treatment was associated with transient suppression of both unstimulated locomotion and chemotaxis responses to multiple stimuli, as well as significant transient enhancement of formyl peptide-stimulated H2O2 production. No effects on opsonic phagocytosis of Staphylococcus aureus were observed. In vitro exposure of control PMN to PIXY321 resulted in suppression of unstimulated locomotion/chemotaxis and enhancement of formyl peptide-stimulated H2O2 production but had no effects on phagocytosis. When patient cells were exposed in vitro to PIXY321 during treatment, suppression of chemotaxis and enhancement of H2O2 production were observed before PIXY321 treatment, but these effects diminished during treatment. The in vivo and in vitro exposure effects of PIXY321 treatment on PMN function are similar to those of the parent molecule, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF).

A murine monoclonal IgM antibody, M3, which interferes with both polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) phagocytosis and bactericidal activity, was used to examine the subcellular location of antigens bearing 3-fucosyllactosamine (CD15 antigens) within this cell type. Percoll gradient-separated secondary granule fractions were rich in CD15 antigens, with at least seven antigens recognizable in SDS-PAGE/electroblot studies. Sonication/sedimentation experiments using secondary granule fractions showed that both soluble and sedimentable CD15 antigens were present. Exposure of purified PMN to the secondary granule secretagogue phorbol myristate acetate caused extracellular release of two or three CD15 antigens, which could be purified by immunoprecipitation using antibody M3. Triton X-114 phase-partition experiments showed that secondary granule fraction CD15 antigens could be partitioned into hydrophilic (aqueous phase) and hydrophobic (detergent phase) antigens, suggesting that several of these antigens were integral secondary granule membrane components. Ultrastructurally, PMN intracellular granules showed two patterns of CD15 expression, localization over both granule matrix/granule membrane and localization to only granule membrane. Colocalization studies showed that lactoferrin and CD15 antigens were both present in a subset of intracellular granules, confirming a secondary granule location for these antigens.

Locomotion and oxidative metabolism of polymorphonuclear leukocytes from 15 patients receiving recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were examined in vitro. At the end of each GM-CSF treatment course, polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) chemotactic responses were suppressed and no enhancement of formyl-peptide-stimulated superoxide production was observed. The priming of PMN superoxide production normally seen after in vitro GM-CSF exposure was also blunted in these cells. By using control donor PMN, two membrane-fluidizing agents, pentoxifylline and butanol, were shown to normalize suppressed PMN chemotaxis caused by in vitro GM-CSF (1 nM) exposure. Pentoxifylline, but not butanol, also reversed the effects of in vitro GM-CSF on PMN superoxide production. When PMN obtained from six patients at the end of GM-CSF therapy were exposed to pentoxifylline in vitro, the chemotactic suppression typically observed was significantly improved. The data suggest that GM-CSF may affect PMN function via mechanisms involving membrane fluidity or cell deformability or both.

Because it has recently been hypothesized that human milk is antiinflammatory, the effects of aqueous human colostrum on human polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) respiratory burst activity and selected enzymatic activities was examined. Aqueous colostrum was found to spontaneously reduce ferricytochrome C in a concentration-dependent manner, prohibiting use of the standard assay to measure superoxide production. It also caused a significant concentration-dependent prolongation of the lagtime from stimulation of PMN with phorbol myristate acetate to the appearance of hydrogen peroxide. Substitution of an enzymatic peroxide-generating system for PMN did not alter the effect of colostrum. Colostrum also suppressed myeloperoxidase activity and lysozyme activity, but not beta-glucuronidase activity in PMN lysates. Inclusion of colostrum in an in vitro assay of PMN-mediated cell detachment significantly suppressed this PMN-mediated effect. These data demonstrate that aqueous human colostrum significantly interferes with PMN oxygen metabolic and enzymatic activities that are important in the mediation of acute inflammation.