Macrophage activation by culture in an anoxic environment

The extracellular amino acid composition of experimental wounds in rats during peak macrophage infiltration bears the imprint of the elevated arginase activity present in wound fluid: L-arginine is found in this space in concentrations markedly lower, and L-ornithine in concentrations markedly higher, than those that are detectable in plasma. No evidence, in the form of L-citrulline or NO2- accumulation, can be found at this time for nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity. Wound-derived macrophages, however, metabolize L-arginine through both arginase and NOS in culture. Given the requirements of NOS for O2 and the reduced O2 tension in wounds, experiments were performed to determine the role of O2 availability on the metabolism of L-arginine by wound-derived macrophages. Results demonstrated that, beyond inhibiting NOS, culture of wound-derived macrophages in an anoxic environment provided an activation signal, markedly increasing total L-arginine metabolism, arginase activity, NOS protein content, and the release of TNF-alpha and IL-6. Neither resident nor Corynebacterium parvum-elicited peritoneal macrophages responded to anoxic culture with increases in L-arginine utilization, arginase activity or, in the case of resident macrophages, in NOS protein content. The enhanced TNF-alpha and IL-6 release induced by anoxia in wound-derived macrophages was also found in resident peritoneal macrophages. Anoxia appears to act, then, as an inducer of activation-associated traits in macrophages obtained from different sites.