The origin of chemiluminescence produced by neutrophils stimulated by opsonized zymosan.

The luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) of neutrophils phagocytosing zymosan is inhibited by superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, sodium benzoate, and 2,5-dimethyl furan. In the present report it is shown that inhibition by SOD and 2,5-dimethyl furan is diminished and removed, respectively, by the omission of glucose from the incubation medium. Zymosan-induced CL is also inhibited by inhibitors of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism, including 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid, nordihydroguaiaretic acid, quinacrine, indomethacin, and aspirin, by prostaglandins E1 and E2, theophylline, and dibutyryl cyclic AMP (cAMP), and by the addition of AA, sodium fluoride, and xanthine oxidase plus xanthine to the cell suspension. These findings lead us to postulate that the metabolism of AA via the lipoxygenase (and cyclooxygenase) pathway(s) is the source of CL observed in neutrophils after phagocytosis. Reactive oxygen species produced as a result of activation of NAD(P)H oxidase provide oxidizing agents for the oxidation of AA along these pathways. It is also suggested that elevated levels of cAMP induced by prostaglandins synthesized via the cyclooxygenase pathway may play a role in the regulation of the zymosan-induced CL response.