Metronidazole effect on active oxygen production by human blood neutrophils

The in vitro effect of metronidazole on production of active oxygen by neutrophils and in the enzymatic system of glucoseglucose oxidase-peroxidase was studied by luminol-dependent chemiluminescence. An increase in the spontaneous and zymozan-stimulated chemiluminescence and a decrease in the phorbolmyristate acetate (PMA)-stimulated chemiluminescence after 2-hour preincubation of the neutrophils with 8.5 mM of metronidazole were observed. In concentrations of 0.9 to 8.7 mM metronidazole (without washing) dose-dependenly lowered the neutrophil chemiluminescence in response to the effect of PMA and ionophore A23187 and to a lesser degree to that of zymozan. In doses of 20 to 100 mM the drug had an insignificant effect on production of active oxygen by the neutrophils in response to the cell stimulation by PMA, ionophore A23187 and zymozan. The data are in conformity with the scavenger effect of metrinidazole on active oxygen radicals generating in the cell-free enzymatic system both in the presence and in the absence of Superoxide dismutase.