Behaviour of leukocyte membrane fluidity in presence of anaesthetic drugs. Comparison between allergic patients and control subjects.

1. In this study we compared the effects of two anaesthetic drugs on the leukocyte membrane fluidity in allergic patients versus control subjects. 2. Fluidity was assessed by means of the fluorescence polarization technique. 3. We report that the treatment of the whole leukocytes with thiopental or pancuronium enhanced membrane fluidity in the allergic group as well as in the control one, but the effect was more pronounced in allergics. 4. This finding suggests a different biophysical behaviour of the leukocyte membrane towards anaesthetic drugs in allergic diseases. 5. This agrees with the hypothesis of the existence of an intrinsic abnormality in allergic cells, expressed as an initial hyperreactive state.

[Changes in leukocyte phospholipid-N-methyltransferase activity after chronic treatment of allergic patients with mequitazine]. / Modification de l'activité phospholipide-N-méthyltransferase leucocytaire aprés traitement chronique de sujets allergiques par la méquitazine.

Phospholipid methyltransferase activity was lower in leukocyte preparations from allergic subjects than from control subjects. After chronic treatment by mequitazine, values from allergic subjects were increased to values near those of control subjects.

Impaired G-proteins and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activity in T-lymphocytes from patients with sarcoidosis.

Among the various immune abnormalities which characterize active sarcoidosis, a low proliferative response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to mitogenic lectins has long been observed. Since membrane-associated G-proteins are very likely to be crucial elements in lectin signal transduction, we investigated the binding of 5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate (GppNHp), a non hydrolyzable GTP analogue, to blood total lymphocyte membranes and to blood T-lymphocyte membranes from patients with active sarcoidosis, and from healthy control subjects. GppNHp binding was markedly decreased in peripheral cells from patients with sarcoidosis as compared to controls, suggesting the occurrence of a defect at the level of G-protein(s). A further characterization of G-proteins in these cells by means of ADP-ribose-labelling in the presence of bacterial toxins brought forward a significant decrease in the labelling of a 40 kDa protein, the major pertussis toxin substrate, in membranes from sarcoid patients, while the labelling of the major 44 kDa cholera toxin substrate proved to be unchanged with respect to control membranes. It is hypothesized that, in sarcoid lymphocytes, a defect in the negative control of adenylate cyclase mediated by the inhibitory G-protein Gi, prevents the lowering of cAMP necessary to normal mitogenic response of blood lymphocytes to stimulation. cAMP degradation by the specialized enzyme phosphodiesterase constitutes another critical step in the control of cAMP levels. Both cAMP and cGMP phosphodiesterase activities were found decreased in blood total lymphocyte preparations from sarcoid patients. With purified T-cells, although the mean cAMP and cGMP phosphodiesterase activities from sarcoid patients were found more markedly decreased with respect to healthy donors, only the decrease in cGMP phosphodiesterase was found statistically significant. The role these defects in cyclic nucleotide degradation potentially play in the disturbance of blood lymphocytes response associated with sarcoidosis is discussed.

Leukotriene B4 production by blood neutrophils in allergic rhinitis--effects of cetirizine.

BACKGROUND: Mucosal inflammatory processes in late phase of allergic diseases involve cytokine production, cell adhesion molecule overexpression and release of inflammatory mediators with chemotactic activity, such as leukotriene B4 (LTB4). We had previously observed increased production of LTB4 by neutrophils in patients with allergic rhinitis and discussed the role of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) priming. Some antihistaminic compounds were shown to diminish the production of leukotrienes by neutrophils. OBJECTIVES: In a first step, we evaluated in ex vivo and in vitro studies, the effects of cetirizine on LTB4 production by blood neutrophils from allergic and healthy subjects. In a second step, we studied the in vitro effect of cetirizine on LTB4 production by neutrophils from healthy subjects during GM-CSF priming of these cells. METHODS: Neutrophils from both populations were purified from venous blood and LTB4 production was measured using high performance liquid cromatography (HPLC) method. RESULTS: In ex vivo studies, cetirizine treatment induced a decreased LTB4 production by neutrophils in allergic rhinitis. This effect of decreased LTB4 production was reproduced in vitro with 10(-8)-10(-6)M cetirizine. Nevertheless, this anti-H1 compound had no effect on neutrophil priming with GM-CSF. CONCLUSION: As LTB4 is an important chemotactic factor, Cetirizine could act on inflammatory cell recruitment by inhibiting LTB4 production by neutrophils.