Met-enkephalin induced alterations of macrophage functions.

Met-enkephalin /Met-enk/ was found to stimulate IgG2a-mediated antibody dependent cytotoxicity /ADCC/ of thioglycollate elicited rat peritoneal macrophages /PM/ through naloxone-sensitive opiate receptors in concentrations ranging from 10(-9) - 14(-7) M. Phagocytosis of IgG2a coated 51Cr-sheep red blood cell /SRBC/ was suppressed by M-enk in the same concentration range. In the same range of concentrations, M-enk was observed to induce a significant increase in the generation of luminol dependent chemiluminescence /LDCL/. The observed stimulation of ADCC was abolished by calmodulin inhibitor triflouroperazine /TFP/ in 10(-6) M concentration. The involvement of cyclic nucleotides in the M-enk induced functional alterations is indicated by finding cGMP accumulation to be augmented in M-enk treated PMs.