1. Polymorphonuclear neutrophils are involved in the development of myocardial injury during ischaemia through the release of free oxygen radicals and by adhesion of activated polymorphonuclear neutrophils to endothelium, resulting in plugging of coronary capillaries. Polymorphonuclear neutrophil activation may be a result of contact with ligands expressed by endothelial cells and/or a response to soluble stimuli released from ischaemic tissue to the plasma.
2. To investigate this we studied plasma-mediated polymorphonuclear neutrophil activation in vitro using plasma samples collected from 14 patients with acute myocardial infarction at time of admission and 6 h and 1, 2, 5 and 7 days later. Plasma samples were incubated with washed polymorphonuclear neutrophils isolated from healthy donors. Expression of adhesion molecules CD18/CD11b integrin and L-selectin (Leu-8) were measured by flow cytometry and superoxide anion production in polymorphonuclear neutrophils was measured by chemiluminescence.
3. Plasma samples obtained 6 h and 1 day after admission were capable of inducing CD18/CD11b antigen expression, superoxide anion production and L-selectin shedding in the washed polymorphonuclear neutrophils, and this effect was significant when compared with plasma taken at 5 and 7 days after admission.
4. The plasma-mediated polymorphonuclear neutrophil stimulation was prevented when the PMN were pretreated with platelet-activating factor receptor antagonists BN52021 or BN50739. The platelet-activating factor concentrations detected in the plasma samples were not higher than those detected in plasma from healthy subjects.
5. These findings suggest that during acute myocardial infarction peripheral plasma contains soluble stimuli capable of inducing polymorphonuclear neutrophil integrin expression, L-selectin shedding and oxygen free radical production and that platelet-activating factor appears to act as an autocrine polymorphonuclear neutrophil stimulus.
