Effect of cigarette smoke extract on phagocytosis of Staphylococcus aureus by macrophages

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important pathogen that causes community acquired and nosocomial infections worldwide. Phagocytosis by macrophages plays an important role in the first line defense against infections caused by S.aureus. On the other hand, the conducted studies have indicated that cigarette smoke has negative effects on both innate and acquired immune responses. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of cigarette smoke on macrophage viability and their capacity of S.aureus phagocytosis. For this purpose THP-1 cell lines (human leukemic monocyte cell culture) were used and after the differentiation of the cells with PMA (phorbol myristate acetate) treatment, the macrophages were exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) for 2- and 4-hours at concentrations of 1%, 5%, 10%, 25%, and 50%. Afterwards, the cells were stained with propidium iodide and the viability of the cells was analyzed by a flow cytometer. Two different methods were used to investigate the effect of CSE on the phagocytosis of S.aureus. The first one was the classical bacteriological method, in which macrophages were exposed to CSE for 2 hours in five different concentrations and were infected with 100 MOI (multiplicity of infection) S.aureus. After 1 hour of incubation, macrophages were lysed with PBS-0.1% Triton X-100 and plated on Luria-Bertani (LB) agar following serial dilutions. Newly formed colonies were counted and the number of bacteria phagocytosed were evaluated as colony forming units (CFU). The second method for the detection of phagocytosis was flow cytometric analysis in which SYBR(®) Green-labeled bacteria were used. To confirm that the macrophages were infected, bacteria were stained with SYBR(®) Green and macrophages were analyzed following infection via flow cytometry. Macrophages were exposed to 10% and 50% CSE and infected with bacteria stained with SYBR(®) Green. The level of phagocytosis was analyzed by flow cytometry in terms of median fluorescence intensity. Macrophage death rate was 24% and 30% following 2-hour exposure to 25% and 50% CSE, respectively, while 4-hour exposure increased death rate to 38% and 51%, respectively (p< 0.001). At 10% and higher concentrations of CSE, cell death increased with an average of 1.5-fold between 2- and 4-hour exposures (p< 0.05). Macrophages were successfully infected (99.8%) with SYBR(®) Green-stained S.aureus. Phagocytosis of S.aureus by macrophages decreased significantly upon exposure to 10% or more CSE concentrations (p< 0.0001). Median fluorescence intensity, which indicates phagocytosed bacterial cell number, decreased with no statistical significance when macrophages exposed to 10% and 50% CSE were infected with SYBR(®) Green-stained S.aureus. The results of this study revealed that, macrophage viability and phagocytosis of S.aureus were reduced depending on CSE concentration and time of exposure. In addition, it was shown that, SYBR(®) Green dye is a proper stain for the flow cytometric analysis of bacteria that were phagocytosed by macrophages.