Amino acid oxidase of leukocytes in relation to H 2 O 2 -mediated bacterial killing.

D-Amino acid oxidase and L-amino acid oxidase have been measured in sucrose homogenates of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) obtained from guinea pigs and humans. Subcellular distribution patterns and studies on latency indicate that these oxidases are soluble enzymes. Their hydrogen peroxide-generating capacity was verified. Chronic granulomatous disease PMN, which lack a respiratory burst and fail to generate H(2)O(2) during phagocytosis and do not kill catalase positive bacteria, had peroxide-generating amino acid oxidase activity equal to that found in PMN homogenates from patients with bacterial infections. The precise metabolic and bactericidal role of amino acid oxidases in PMN remains uncertain.