Polymorphonuclear leukocyte bactericidal activity and oxidative metabolism during glutathione peroxidase deficiency

Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) deficiency has been proposed as a cause of some instances of chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). GPx activity varies greatly among species, and specific deficiency of this selenium-dependent enzyme can be produced by dietary selenium deficiency in rats. Bactericidal activity of polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes from normal rats, humans, and guinea pigs (GPx high, intermediate, and nearly absent, respectively), selenium-deficient rats (GPx absent), and a patient with CGD were compared. There was no correlation between natural levels of GPx and bactericidal activity; only CGD was associated with inability to kill a Proteus mirabilis strain in vitro (killing known to be dependent on oxidative mechanisms). Postphagocytic metabolism was examined in normal and GPx-deficient rats. Both demonstrated normal iodination and superoxide production during phagocytosis and gave similar histochemical reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium dye under either resting or endotoxin-stimulation conditions. Postphagocytic hexose monophosphate shunt activity was somewhat lower in PMN from GPx-deficient animals as compared with normal but was substantially (10-fold) higher than that observed in resting cells. Thus, postphagocytic oxidative responses and subsequent bactericidal activity of PMN leukocytes were not compromised by complete absence of GPx, even in the species with the highest natural level of this enzyme. These results are not compatible with the hypothesis that CGD can be caused by a deficiency of GPx.