Effects of epinephrine, norepinephrine and isoproterenol against challenge in Bordetella pertussis-treated and beta-adrenergic blocked mice

Effects of methacholine, histamine and atropine on pulmonary guanosine-3', 5'-monophosphate levels in hypersensitive mice

Pulmonary levels of cGMP and cAMP in mice sensitized to methacholine and histamine with B. pertussis were examined to determine whether sensitization could be the result of an alteration in the metabolism of these cyclic nucleotides. The results presented show that in sensitized mice, methacholine raised cGMP to levels that were about double those produced without sensitization. In analogous experiments, histamine raised cGMP by approximately 100% in sensitized mice without producing significant increases in nonsensitized groups. Atropine completely blocked the cGMP rises produced by methacholine but did not eliminate those produced by histamine, thus indicating that cholinergic, but not the histaminergic elevation of cGMP involves activation of muscarinic receptors. The influence of pertussis on cAMP appeared to be opposite in direction from cGMP, i.e., a small but significant drop in cAMP levels was found following methacholine administration to sensitized, but not to nonsensitized mice. It was concluded that pertussis sensitization increases the responsiveness of the pulmonary guanylate cyclase-cGMP system to methacholine and histamine, and that the altered patterns of cGMP accumulation may contribute to the biochemical mechanism of sensitization.

Soluble adenylate cyclase from the culture medium of Bordetella pertussis: purification and characterization

Culture medium of exponentially growing Bordetella pertussis (strain 114) contains significant quantities of soluble (100,000 X g for 1 h) adenylate cyclase. The enzyme was purified by chromatography on diethylaminoethyl-cellulose and Sephadex G-200. The purest material yielded a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-disc gel electrophoresis. It is heat labile, has a temperature optimum of 30 degrees C, a pH optimum of pH 7 to 8, and a Km for adenosine 5'-triphosphate of 0.4 mM, and requires Mg2+ for maximum activity. The molecular weight, by sodium dodecyl sulfate-disc gel electrophoresis and sucrose density gradient, is approximately 70,000. The enzyme is markedly inhibited by fluoride and weakly inhibited by monovalent salts, but its activity is not altered by alpha-keto acids of nonsubstrate nucleoside triphosphates. Thus, but its presence in the culture supernatant, its smaller molecular weight, and its insensitivity to alpha-keto acids and nucleotides, this enzyme differs from the bacterial adenylate cyclases previously described.

Effect of Bordetella pertussis extract and vasoactive amines on vascular permeability

Vasxular permeability to Evans blue dye and 131-I-labeled human serum albumin was studied in normal mice and in mice treated with alkaline saline extracts (SE) from Bordetella pertussis cells. Skin sites inoculated intracutaneously with small doses of histamine, serotonin, or a combination of these 2 substances were more permeable in SE-treated mice than in normal animals. Intravenously administered catecholamines were able to reduce in varying degrees the vascular permeability induced by serotonin or by histamine in normal mice; in SE-treated mice the catecholamines were less effective. The relative effectiveness of intravenously administered catecholamines to reduce vascular permeability in normal or SE-treated mice was ranked as follows: isoproterenol greater than epinephrine greater than norepinephrine. When catecholamines were given concomitantly with histamine and serotonin in the skin test site, the permeability in both normal and SE-treated mice was again reduced or blocked, but isoproterenol was only weakly effective in this instance. Their relative effectiveness was epinephrine greater than norepinephrine greater than isoproterenol. The possible explanations for these results are discussed.

The effect of Bordetella pertussis on lymphocyte cyclic AMP metabolism

Bordetella pertussis culture fractions produce decreased metabolic responses to isoproterenol and epinephrine in mice and rats, suggesting the possibility of systemic beta adrenergic blockade. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the mechanism of the alteration in adrenergic responsiveness and to clarify its relationship to other biological effects of the organism. Lymphocytes were selected as a suitable tissue because of the marked alteration in lymphocyte distribution in pertussis-treated mice and rats, suggesting a change in the surface properties of these cells. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes, purified by nylon fiber chromatography, were studied. In short incubation experiments (20 min or less) B. pertussis did not alter the cyclic AMP response to isoproterenol, prostaglandin E (PGE(1)), or methacholine. However, when cells were preincubated with B. pertussis for 90 min at 37 degrees C, the responses to all three agents were markedly inhibited. Although these observations provide direct confirmation of the ability of B. pertussis to inhibit catecholamine responsiveness, the fact that PGE(1) and methacholine responses were also inhibited suggests that blockade at the level of the beta adrenergic receptor is doubtful. The inhibitory activity was localized in a nondialyzable, protein-rich fraction that is precipitated from B. pertussis culture fluid by ammonium sulfate at 90% of saturation. The bulk of the activity was obtained in the load volume after 50,000 g centrifugation in a cesium chloride gradient, density 1.2-1.5 (fraction 4). Fraction 4 produced a change in lymphocyte hormonal responsiveness at concentrations as low as 5 ng/ml. The relationship between cyclic AMP inhibitory activity in isolated human cells and leukocytosis-producing activity in intact mice was studied. The two activities seemed to parallel one another quite closely until the final Sephadex G-150 fractionation step, in which the two activities were obtained in the same column fraction, but a greater recovery of the leukocytosis-producing activity was obtained. Additional purification will be required to establish conclusively whether the same macromolecule is responsible for both activities. The availability of a bacterial product that markedly inhibits cyclic AMP accumulation in purified lymphocytes may help to clarify the role of cyclic AMP in lymphocyte activation by antigen and nonspecific mitogens.