Characterization of the luminol-amplified light-generating reaction induced in human monocytes

Increased production of oxidative metabolites following interaction between mononuclear phagocytes and soluble stimuli can be measured as luminol-amplified chemiluminescence (CL). The effects of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and azide on the monocyte CL response were investigated. Azide, a myeloperoxidase (MPO) inhibitor, reduced the CL reaction by more than 80%, which indicates that the CL reaction is dependent on the granule enzyme MPO. Because SOD and catalase only partly inhibited the monocyte CL response, the authors propose that part of the monocyte CL response is of intracellular origin. This conclusion is further supported by the effects on the CL response obtained by adding extra peroxidase and the lack of correlation with techniques measuring only extracellular generated metabolites. However, it should be pointed out that the relation between extracellular and intracellular activity is stimulus dependent. Furthermore, even if quantitative differences exist between monocyte and granulocyte CL, the mechanism for the light-generating reaction seems to be the same in both cell types.