Pentoxifylline suppresses interleukin-2-mediated activation of immature human natural killer cells by inhibiting endogenous tumor necrosis factor-alpha secretion.

We recently reported that immature human peripheral blood-derived natural killer (NK) cells, the free NK subset, can be activated by interleukin-2 (IL-2) to become killer cells and to undergo proliferation. Activation by IL-2 is dependent on endogenous secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) by the free cells. Because pentoxifylline (PTX) inhibits TNF-alpha synthesis and secretion in monocytes, we hypothesized that PTX may also inhibit TNF-alpha secretion by NK cells and thus would inhibit IL-2-mediated activation of free cells. The free NK cells were separated from purified NK cells by flow cytometry and cell sorting of non-target binding cells. IL-2-mediated secretion of TNF-alpha by the free cells was inhibited by PTX. In the presence of PTX, IL-2-mediated activation of free cells into cytotoxic function, proliferation, and recruitment of binder and killer cells was markedly inhibited. Also, PTX inhibited IL-2-triggered upregulation of the expression of CD69, CD25, ICAM-1, and p75TNF-R on the cell surface. These findings demonstrate that PTX has a marked suppression on IL-2-mediated activation of immature free NK cells and that the suppression is due, in large part, to PTX-mediated inhibition of endogenous TNF-alpha secretion. The implication of these findings in the clinical use of PTX for therapy is discussed.