Neutrophils from asthmatics exhibit diminished responsiveness to 2-chloroadenosine which is reversed by theophylline. Evidence for a cyclic-AMP-independent pathway on human neutrophils.

We have shown previously that neutrophils (PMNs) from patients with asthma have a more potent stimulated respiratory burst than normals and that their respiratory burst is significantly less suppressed with exposure to 2-chloroadenosine (2-CADO). The present studies investigated the basis of this defect in responsiveness to 2-CADO. PMNs obtained from asthmatics either not on theophylline (minus theophylline) or taking theophylline (plus theophylline) generated significantly more superoxide in response to 2 x 10(-8) M FMLP (2.08 +/- 0.36 nmol/5 x 10(5) PMNs (minus theophylline) (P less than 0.01 compared to controls) vs. 2.16 +/- 0.44 (plus theophylline) (P less than 0.01) as compared to controls (1.05 +/- 0.17 nmol). In the presence of FMLP (2 x 10(-8) M), PMNs from the minus theophylline cohort had less 2-CADO (10(-6) M)-mediated suppression of superoxide generation as compared to controls (38.3 +/- 3.8% vs. 67.1 +/- 3.8%; (P less than 0.001). The plus theophylline group exhibited suppression values similar to controls (64.5 +/- 7.2%). Theophylline, in the presence of a physiological concentration of 2-CADO (0.1 microM) accentuated the suppression of the respiratory burst in normals (74.1 +/- 5.9%, 80.1 +/- 4.9% (P less than 0.02) and 84.7 +/- 3.8% (P less than 0.02) at 0, 10, and 100 microM, respectively). PMNs from asthmatics not taking theophylline demonstrated suppression values of 46.2 +/- 6%, 53.8 +/- 6.6% (P = NS), and 63.2 +/- 7.1% (P less than 0.01), respectively. Resting PMNs from normal controls generated 0.97 +/- 0.20 pmol cAMP/10(7) cells compared to 2.83 +/- 0.75 pmol in the presence of 0.1 microM 2-CADO. The combination of 2-CADO and theophylline (10-100 microM) produced cAMP concentrations not significantly different from that observed with 2-CADO alone. These findings support the existence of a novel cAMP-independent adenosine receptor in PMNs. The specific binding of 10(-8)M 3H-labeled 2-CADO (in delta cpm) was 10,358 +/- 1502 (P less than 0.001 compared to controls), 5468 +/- 843 (NS compared to controls), and 3751 +/- 477 in the plus theophylline group, minus theophylline group, and controls, respectively. Such up-regulation of specific binding may represent the effects of theophylline as shown by the specific binding of [3H]2-CADO in PMNs from normal controls exposed to 10 microM theophylline for 30 min (6013 +/- 969) compared to unexposed PMNs (3768 +/- 656; P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)