Peritoneal mast cell degranulation differently affected thioglycollate-induced macrophage phenotype and activity in...

Macrophages are heterogeneous population of inflammatory cells and, in response to the microenvironment, become differentially activated. The objective of the study was to explore macrophage effector functions during different inflammatory conditions in two rat strains.

We have investigated the effects of in vivo treatment with mast cell-degranulating compound 48/80 and/or thioglycollate on peritoneal macrophage phagocytosis and capacity to secrete hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and nitric oxide (NO) in Dark Agouti (DA) and Albino Oxford (AO) rat strains. Besides, fresh peritoneal cells were examined for the expression of ED1, ED2 and CD86 molecules.

In thioglycollate-elicited macrophages, increased proportion of ED1+ cells was accompanied with elevated phagocytosis of zymosan (DA strain), whereas increased expression level of CD86 molecule on ED2+ macrophages matched elevated secretory capacity for H2O2, TNF-α and NO (AO rats). Although mast cell degranulation induced by compound 48/80 increased the percentages of ED2+ macrophages in both rat strains, the proportion of ED2+ cells expressing CD86 molecule was decreased and increased in DA and AO rats, respectively. Furthermore, in DA strain compound 48/80 diminished macrophage secretion of NO, but stimulated all macrophage functions tested in AO strain. If applied concomitantly, the compound 48/80 additively increased macrophage activity induced by thioglycollate in AO rats.

Macrophages from DA and AO rat strains show different susceptibility to mediators released from mast cells, suggesting that strain-dependant predisposition(s) toward particular activation pattern is decisive for the macrophage efficacy in response to inflammatory agents.