Effect of lidocaine on production of migration inhibitory factor and on macrophage motility: in vitro exposure of guinea pig lymphocytes and macrophages.

Exposure of lymphocytes from guinea pigs sensitized to keyhole limpet hemocyanin and of macrophages from nonsensitized animals to noncytotoxic doses of lidocaine (10(-4) to 10(-6) M) resulted in the inhibition of the production of macrophage migration inhibitory factor and of macrophage motility. The inhibition of both processes was related to the concentration of lidocaine in the medium. The effects of lidocaine, a membrane-stabilizing drug, were apparently related to its ability to interact with the cell surface and cause changes in the surface ionic configuration of the cells, as determined by cell electrophoresis. The drug conferred permanent changes in the surface of lymphocytes at all concentrations tested, but the changes in the surface of macrophages induced in the presence of 10(-5) and 10(-6) M of the drug were reversible. The presence of noncytotoxic doses of lidocaine in the cellular environment resulted in significant changes in cellular functions that appeared to be related to the ability of the drug to interact with cell membranes in a manner determined by the specific surface properties of the cell.