Response of superoxide anion production by guinea pig eosinophils to various soluble stimuli: comparison to neutrophils.

The effect of various soluble stimuli on the superoxide production by guinea pig eosinophils was studied in comparison to neutrophils. Phorbol myristate acetate, A23187, digitonin, NaF, concanavalin A (Con A), and cytochalasin E stimulated eosinophils and neutrophils to release O2-. The O2- production by these active agents, excluding Con A and cytochalasin E, was much greater in eosinophils than in neutrophils. Formyl-Met-Leu-Phe stimulated the O2- production in neutrophils but not in eosinophils. Neither histamine nor Val/Ala-Gly-Ser-Glu stimulated the O2- production in both types of leukocytes. A23187- or Con A-stimulated O2- production was greatly enhanced by cytochalasin B pretreatment in neutrophils but not in eosinophils. Lineweaver-Burk analysis of NADPH oxidase in particulate fractions showed that eosinophils possessed the same Km values as neutrophils and greater Vmax values than neutrophils, suggesting that eosinophils have a similar, but more active, O2- -generating enzyme system than neutrophils.