Pharmacological analysis of the neutrophil migration induced by D. rostrata lectin: involvement of cytokines and nitric oxide.

Abstract In the present study, we investigated the involvement of resident cell and inflammatory mediators in the neutrophil migration induced by chemotactic activity of a glucose/mannose-specific lectin isolated from Dioclea rostrata seeds (DrosL). Rats were injected i.p. with DrosL (125–1000 μg/cavity), and at 2–96 h thereafter the leukocyte counts in peritoneal fluid were determined. DrosL-induced a dose-dependent neutrophil migration accumulation, which reached maximal response at 24 h after injection and declines thereafter. The carbohydrate ligand nearly abolished the neutrophil influx. Pre-treatment of peritoneal cavities with thioglycolate which increases peritoneal macrophage numbers, enhanced neutrophil migration induced by DrosL by 303%. However, the reduction of peritoneal mast cell numbers by treatment of the cavities with compound 48/80 did not modify DrosL-induced neutrophil migration. The injection into peritoneal cavities of supernatants from macrophage cultures stimulated with DrosL (125, 250 and 500 μg/ml) induced neutrophil migration. In addition, DrosL treatment induced cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and CINC-1) and NO release into the peritoneal cavity of rats. Finally, neutrophil chemotaxis assay in vitro showed that the lectin (15 and 31 μg/ml) induced neutrophil chemotaxis by even 180%. In conclusion, neutrophil migration induced by D. rostrata lectin occurs by way of the release of NO and cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α and CINC-1.