[The effects of neocarzinostatin on superoxide production by monocyte-derived macrophages]

Monocyte-derived macrophages (M phi) from cancer patients injected with low doses of Neocarzinostatin (NCS, 500 units/day, three times a week) 12 times produced significantly more superoxide (O2-) than controls. Lymphocyte functions, such as PHA response, surface marker and serum IAP, before and after NCS injections were the same. M phi from normal persons cultured with NCS (0.4 microgram/ml) for three days produced more O2- than controls, but those cultured with rINF gamma did not. These results suggest that the increased O2- production of M phi from patients taking low doses of NCS may be due to the direct action of NCS on the M phi.