Effect of disodium cromoglycate on neutrophil movement and intracellular calcium mobilization

Disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) is a widely used drug in the treatment of allergy and asthma. Although its mode of action is not completely understood, it appears to prevent activation and release of mediators from mast cells. Neutrophils may also play a prominent role in clinical asthma and in other diseases of the airways. We have therefore studied the effect of DSCG on the activation of neutrophils from healthy adults. DSCG in concentrations of 1, 10, and 50 micrograms/ml significantly inhibited chemotaxis to zymosan-activated serum or formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine. When leukotriene B4 was used as the chemoattractant, no inhibition was found. Incubation of the cells with the drug for 30 minutes elicited the most pronounced inhibition. Since calcium is a key factor in the activation of cells, we used the calcium-specific probe Quin-2 to examine free levels of this cation after chemotactic-factor stimulation. Treatment of neutrophils with DSCG significantly reduced intracellular free calcium levels induced by zymosan-activated serum but not leukotriene B4. Thus, it appears that DSCG may function not only to stabilize mast cells in allergy and clinical asthma but also may interfere with neutrophil activation and movement into the airways.