Recombinant interleukin-4 enhances the chemiluminescent oxidative burst of murine peritoneal macrophages.

We evaluated the effects of murine recombinant interleukin-4 (rIL-4) on murine peritoneal macrophages. We showed a marked, dose-dependent stimulation of respiratory oxidative burst by IL-4 in peptone-elicited murine peritoneal macrophages. This effect was abolished by a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) to rIL-4 confirming that the enhanced chemiluminescence was due to IL-4. In contrast, rIL-4 depressed the respiratory oxidative burst of a transformed murine macrophage cell line, J774, in a dose-dependent mAb-reversible manner.