Interleukin-8 enhances nonoxidative intracellular killing of Mycobacterium fortuitum by human granulocytes.

The results of this study show that recombinant interleukin-8 (IL-8) enhances the intracellular killing of Mycobacterium fortuitum by human granulocytes. This chemokine did not stimulate the phagocytosis of M. fortuitum by granulocytes at various bacterium-to-cell ratios. The killing process was not affected by the NADPH oxidase inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium bisulfate, which indicates that recombinant IL-8 stimulates oxygen-independent mycobactericidal mechanisms of granulocytes. IL-8 did not stimulate H2O2 production in granulocytes but primed the cells for enhanced H2O2 production upon stimulation with preopsonized M. fortuitum. In sum, the chemokine IL-8 not only is involved in the recruitment of granulocytes to the site of infection but also facilitates the elimination of microorganisms by increasing the efficiency of the bactericidal activity of granulocytes.