Measurement of reactive oxygen metabolites produced by human monocyte-derived macrophages exposed to mineral dusts.

The aim of the present work was to develop an in-vitro model for studying mineral dust-induced production of reactive oxygen metabolites by human macrophages. Monocytes isolated from human buffy coats were cultured in vitro for 1-6 days. Quartz particles induced both luminol- and lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) by the adherent cells. However, the luminol response decreased form day to day, obviously due to a decrease in the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity of the cells, whereas the lucigenin response showed no such MPO dependence. The luminol response was inhibited by superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and the MPO-inhibitor azide, while the lucigenin response was inhibited by SOD and catalase but stimulated by azide. There was a positive correlation between the lucigenin responses and the results obtained with the established cytochrome c assay for superoxide, when opsonized zymosan was used as a stimulant. The effects of quartz, titanium dioxide, chrysotile asbestos, and wollastonite particles were investigated with the lucigenin assay. Quartz and chrysotile caused prominent light emission by 6-day-old macrophages, whereas titanium dioxide and wollastonite caused weak responses. We conclude that mineral dusts induce production of reactive oxygen metabolites by human monocyte-derived macrophages, and that the quantitative responses depend on both physical and physicochemical dust properties, the nature of which are still to be defined.