Abstract

The possibility that the mode of action of sulphasalazine and its active metabolite 5-amino-salicylic acid (5ASA) involves modification of toxic oxygen metabolite production by neutrophils has been investigated by measuring the effect of these drugs on luminol-dependent chemiluminescence, superoxide release and oxygen consumption by stimulated neutrophils in vitro. 5ASA, and to a lesser extent sulphasalazine, had profound inhibitory effects on the luminol dependent chemiluminescent response of neutrophils stimulated with formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (1 microM) + cytochalasin B (5 micrograms/ml). A concentration of 50 microM 5ASA or sulphasalazine produced 93.8 (2.3)% and 65.7 (3.7)% inhibition of control responses respectively. The concentration of 5ASA and sulphasalazine producing 50% inhibition of chemiluminescence were 3.6 (1.8) microM and 16.5 (6) microM respectively. Both drugs had little effect on the chemiluminescent response of neutrophils stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (1 microgram/ml), producing only 11.4 (3.9)% and 34 (7)% inhibition respectively, at a concentration of 50 microM. Superoxide release from fMLP + CB stimulated neutrophils was also inhibited slightly by 5ASA (50 microM) by 35.6% and by sulphasalazine (50 microM) by 7.9%. Similarly, there was little inhibition in the rate of oxygen consumption by fMLP + CB stimulated neutrophils by either 5ASA or sulphasalazine at concentrations which produced near total abolition of luminol dependent chemiluminescence. These results show that sulphasalazine and 5ASA inhibit the reaction of toxic metabolites produced by stimulated neutrophils with luminol, without inhibition of the oxidase system producing these metabolites. The site of action of these drugs on neutrophils in vitro is thus extracellular, by scavenging a released metabolite, probably hypochlorite. This has important implications for their mode of action in vivo in inflammatory bowel disease.