Pseudomonas aeruginosa exoproteases inhibit human neutrophil chemiluminescence

The present study was designed to examine the effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa alkaline protease and elastase on human polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemiluminescence. Both a luminol-enhanced and a nonenhanced chemiluminescence system using opsonized zymosan were utilized. It was found that alkaline protease and elastase at concentrations of 25 micrograms/ml strongly inhibited luminol-enhanced myeloperoxidase-mediated chemiluminescence, whereas inhibition of the nonenhanced chemiluminescence response was about 50%. In an attempt to determine the mechanism of inhibition of neutrophil chemiluminescence by these proteases, we examined the effect of various inhibitors of neutrophil oxidative metabolism on chemiluminescence, namely, superoxide dismutase, sodium azide, and catalase. It was shown that the pattern of inhibition of chemiluminescence by alkaline protease and elastase was similar to that of sodium azide, inhibitor of myeloperoxidase. The present study demonstrates that alkaline protease and elastase, extracellular products of P. aeruginosa, are capable of inhibiting myeloperoxidase-mediated chemiluminescence, one of the major antimicrobial systems of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. These findings provide further evidence for the role of P. aeruginosa exoproteases as virulence factors in the pathogenesis of infections caused by this microorganism.