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Ischemia-induced nerve cell death can partly be prevented by propentofylline, a pharmacon structurally related to xanthine derivates that interacts with the neuromodulatory function of endogenous adenosine. To evaluate a possible mechanism of neuroprotection by propentofylline, we studied its effect on the cellular production of reactive oxygen intermediates in microglial cells, which under pathological conditions can differentiate into brain macrophages, in comparison to peritoneal macrophages. Using a flow cytometric assay, we determined the intracellular formation of reactive oxygen intermediates by measuring the oxidation of the membrane-permeable and nonfluorescent dihydrorhodamine 123 to the cationic and intracellularly trapped, green fluorescent rhodamine 123 in single viable cells. Propentofylline at the therapeutic concentration of 50 microM completely inhibited the Ca(2+)-dependent Con A-induced increase in the production of reactive oxygen intermediates in peritoneal macrophages. In isolated and cultured microglial cells, which have a high spontaneous respiratory burst activity, the spontaneous production of reactive oxygen intermediates was reduced by approximately 30%. A phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-induced rise in the respiratory burst activity could not be inhibited by propentofylline in either cell type. An increased generation of reactive oxygen intermediates is thought to contribute to nerve cell death after brain ischemia, edema, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease. These pathological conditions are all accompanied by an activation of microglial cells. We therefore suggest that the neuroprotective properties of propentofylline might in part be due to a modulation of the microglial production of potentially harmful reactive oxygen intermediates.
Banati et al. (Sat,) studied this question.