Inhibition of superoxide anion release from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes by N-acetyl-galactosamine and N-acetyl-glucosamine.

This study shows that N-acetyl-galactosamine and N-acetyl-glucosamine can diminish the production of superoxide anion from cytochalasin-B treated PMNs stimulated with FMLP. Inhibition ranged from 80.9% to 1.8%. N-acetyl-galactosamine was superior to N-acetyl-glucosamine, but both showed their action in a dose-related fashion. The mannosamine may diminish the superoxide production, but without a statistical significance. Other sugars such as L-fucose, D-fucose and D-glucose failed to induce inhibition of superoxide generation. Previous reports showed that sugars interfere with carbohydrates lectins interaction. This study shows that aminosugars can do more than interfere with carbohydrates-lectin interaction. The mechanism is not completely known yet. The question whether aminosugars affect cell-cell interaction, regulation of respiratory burst, inflammatory mediators functions, or the glucose uptake and utilization needs further study.