Effect of Cytochalasin B on Response of Human Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes to Zymosan

Phagocytosis of zymosan particles by human peripheral blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) results in the release of lysosomal enzymes into the extracellular medium (1) and enhanced glucose oxidation and lactate production (2) . The antibiotic, cytochalasin B (CB), inhibits phagocytosis by PMN (3, 4), presumably by interfering with the membrane-associated network of microfilaments (5) . CB is therefore useful in studies of the interrelationship between phagocytosis and metabolic changes in stimulated PMN. This study confirms earlier reports that CB inhibits phagocytosis by PMN (3, 4, 6) and carbohydrate metabolism in phagocytosing PMN (4, 6, 7) . The release of the lysosomal enzyme, ,3-glucuronidase, however, was moderately stimulated by CB under conditions which resulted in almost total inhibition of phagocytosis .