Thioglycollate stimulus modifies lymphocyte metabolism and proliferation. A comparison with lymphocyte activation by...

Key enzyme activities of glycolysis, the pentose-phosphate pathway, the Krebs' cycle and glutaminolysis were measured in lymphocytes obtained from the control (CC), thioglycollate-injected (TG) and Walker 256 tumour-implanted (WT) groups, non-immune and immune inflammatory stimuli, respectively. The rates of incorporation of [2-14C]-thymidine and [5-3H]-uridine into cultured lymphocytes were also determined. The results indicated that the rates of both [2-14C]-thymidine and [5-3H]-uridine incorporation were enhanced in lymphocytes obtained from thioglycollate-injected (by an average of 80 per cent) and tumour-implanted animals (by 2.4-fold) as compared to control rats. Lymphocyte hexokinase activity diminished both in the TG (23 per cent) and WT (61 per cent) groups, whereas glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity was not altered due to the non-immune inflammatory stimulus, being reduced (23 per cent) in WT rats as compared to CC. The activity of lymphocyte citrate synthase was lowered by thioglycollate (39 per cent) and tumour-implantation (46 per cent). In contrast, glutaminase activity was augmented in lymphocytes from the TG (41 per cent) and was not modified in the WT groups. Taken as a whole, the presence of the Walker 256 tumour did not affect the capacity for glutamine utilization but depressed glucose metabolism in these cells. On the other hand, the non-immune inflammatory stimulus suppressed the activities of glycolysis and the Krebs' cycle and enhanced that of glutaminolysis in lymphocytes.