The effect of assay conditions on the measurement of anti-elastase function in lung secretions

Assessment of the antielastase activities in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid: effect of assay buffer ionic strength

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effect of assay buffer ionic strength on assessment of the antielastase activities in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.

METHOD

An improved assay protocol in which elastase (in Tris-HCI buffer) is added to increasing volumes of test samples (made up to equal volume with phosphate-buffered saline) was used.

RESULTS

The percent NE activity inhibited by BALF decreased with increasing NaCl concentration of the buffer. Inhibition of pancreatic elastase (PE) was not affected. One hundred percent inhibition of NE by pure AAT and SLPI standards occurred at molar ratios of 0.91 +/- 0.03 for AAT-to-NE and 0.83 +/- 0.02 for SLPI-to-NE when assayed in buffer with < or = 0.15 mol NaCl/L, compared to ratios of 0.99 +/- 0.02 and 1.06 +/- 0.02, respectively, for assays in buffers with 0.50-1.00 mol NaCl/L (p < 0.05 for AAT-to-NE; p < 0.02 for SLPI-to-NE). The AAT-to-PE molar ratio at 100% inhibition of PE was not affected. Assays in buffer with < or = 0.15 mol NaCl/L indicated that 86.9 +/- 4.1% of AAT and 100.9 +/- 4.9% of SLPI in BALF were active against NE, while assays in buffer with 0.50-1.00 mol NaCl/L showed that 84.4 +/- 3.5% of AAT and 81.6 +/- 5.9% of SLPI present were active. AAT inhibited NE and PE equally only in buffer with 0.50-1.00 mol NaCl/L.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of assays of BALF antielastase activities depend on the assay buffer NaCl concentration, which may account for the conflicting reports in the literature. The buffer with 0.50-1.00 mol NaCl/L appear to be optimal for valid quantitation of anti-NE activities in BALF.

Inflammatory indices for chronic bronchitis and COAD. Proteases and antiproteases

The study of lung secretion proteinases and their inhibitors, both functionally and quantitatively, provide information concerning the degree of inflammation in the lung. Interpretation of individual parameters may be difficult in isolation. However, a general pattern of response provides supportive evidence of a reduction in lung inflammation, including 1) reduction in plasma inhibitor concentrations, 2) increase in local inhibitor concentrations, 3) increase in enzyme inhibition, and 4) reduction in enzyme activity. Thus such changes provide an objective basis for the assessment of drug therapy.

The assessment of alpha 1 proteinase inhibitor form and function in lung lavage fluid from healthy subjects

The form and function of alpha 1 proteinase inhibitor in lung lavage fluid from healthy smoking and non smoking individuals has been accurately assessed using critically appraised techniques. The present study demonstrated that it is possible to accurately assess alpha 1 PI function in unconcentrated lavage fluid but that sample collection, storage and subsequent processing may all affect the results. Absolute levels of alpha 1 PI were elevated in subjects who smoke and a substantial quantity of inactive protein was found in both smokers and non smokers. The proportion of inactive alpha 1 PI was similar for both groups, which by inference implies that normal smoking subjects do not have decreased protection by this inhibitor at the bronchoalveolar level. Physicochemical analysis of the alpha 1 PI in these normal subjects showed that it was different from alpha 1 PI previously reported from patients with established disease and this may have important implications regarding the pathogenesis of their condition. Western immunoblotting of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) showed that all of the alpha 1 PI was present in the native molecular mass form (54,000 Da). Pre-incubation of samples with methionine sulphoxide peptide reductase restored alpha 1 PI function only by approximately 10% suggesting the presence of little reversibly oxidised alpha 1 PI in either group. Anion exchange HPLC of BALF revealed the presence of two alpha 1 PI species, one of which co-eluted with native, oxidised or proteolyzed forms and the other which was more cationic and did not inhibit porcine pancreatic elastase. Finally, thirteen out of sixteen BALF samples inhibited more neutrophil elastase than could be accounted for by the amounts of functional alpha 1 PI present, suggesting that the presence of other inhibitors is a feature of normal lavage fluids.

Neutrophils from subjects with chronic obstructive lung disease show enhanced chemotaxis and extracellular proteolysis

Peripheral polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) from subjects with emphysema or bronchiectasis digested significantly more iodine-125-labelled fibronectin (on average, 250% and 280%, respectively) than did those from control subjects. PMN from patients with bronchiectasis contained significantly more of the serine proteinase elastase than did the control cells, which may have contributed to their greater extracellular proteolysis. PMN from patients with emphysema, but not those with bronchiectasis, showed enhanced chemotaxis (on average 260%) in response to a chemotactic peptide compared with control cells. Thus, PMN from subjects with chronic obstructive lung diseases can digest more extracellular connective tissue protein than PMN from healthy subjects. This behaviour suggests a mechanism for the pathological tissue damage associated with these disorders. Furthermore, the sensitivity to chemotactic factors of PMN from emphysematous patients would contribute to the larger numbers of these cells in their lung tissues, thus increasing further the proteolytic burden in the lungs.