Stimulatory effects of leukotriene B4 on macrophage association with and intracellular destruction of Trypanosoma cruzi.

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The effects of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) on mouse peritoneal macrophage (MPH) association with and destruction of Trypanosoma cruzi were studied. The presence of 10(-8) to 10(-6) M LTB4 in co-cultures of MPH and T. cruzi enhanced their association (a term meaning surface binding and internalization), as evidenced by increases in the percentage of MPH associating with trypanosomes and the number of parasites per 100 MPH. Pretreatment of either parasites or MPH with LTB4 increased their association with the untreated counterpart, suggesting that the enhancement was a composite of effects on both cells. The effect of LTB4 on MPH was reversible, because normal levels of MPH-parasite association were recorded 60 min after the LTB4 pretreatment. However, the enhancement was demonstrable after the MPH were incubated with LTB4 for up to 24 hr, indicating that the effect lasted if LTB4 was present. Pretreatment with LTB4 also increased the capacity of MPH to take up glutaraldehyde-killed T. cruzi or latex beads, suggesting that LTB4 stimulated phagocytosis. Pretreatment of rat heart myoblasts--which are not phagocytic--with LTB4 also increased parasite association, suggesting that phagocytic ability was not an absolute requirement for production of the enhancement and that LTB4-induced alterations of the cell membrane facilitating parasite invasion may also be involved. An effect of LTB4 on MPH cytotoxicity was denoted by an increased rate of intracellular parasite killing. Two inhibitors of guanylate cyclase abrogated the enhancing effect of LTB4, suggesting that increased MPH levels of cyclic GMP--known to be increased by LTB4--mediated the effect. Because inflammatory cells, such as are found in acute chagasic lesions, are known to produce increased amounts of leukotrienes, the stimulatory effects of LTB4 could contribute to host defense against T. cruzi infection.