Superoxide generation by digitonin-stimulated guinea pig granulocytes. A basis for a continuous assay for monitoring superoxide production and for the study of the activation of the generating system.

A C T Stimulation of guinea pig granulocytes by digitonin results in superoxide (O) genera- tion. A continuous assay shows that there is a lag be- tween the addition of digitonin and the onset of O2 production. The rate of activation of the O2 generating system is dependent upon the concentra- tion of digitonin and the temperature. The final linear rate of O2 production is affected by the concentration of digitonin, temperature, pH, and the presence of exogenous reduced pyridine nucleotides. Thus, fac- tors which alter either the activation process or the activity of the 2 generating system can affect 2 production by stimulated granulocytes.