Scavenging of Superoxide Anion by Phosphorylethanolamine: Studies in Human Neutrophils and in a Cell Free System

On the basis of previous observations, we attempted to characterize the effects of various products of phospholipid hydrolysis on neutrophil (PMN) respiratory burst activity. We studied the effects of phos- phorylcholine (PC) and phosphorylethanoline (PE) on superoxide anion production in PMN and in a cell free system. We found that PE but not PC inhibited measured superoxide anion, but that this was not due to inhibition of cellular superoxide generation but to scavenging of generated superoxide anion. Further, utilizing a system based upon the photo-oxidation of O-dianisidine sensitized by riboflavin, we were able to determine that the scavenging effect of PE was not superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like but rather a general scavenging or glutathione (GSH)-like effect. These data underscore the importance of identifying the mechanism of inhibition of superoxide generation by putative inhibitors as being due to a direct cellular effect or to a scavenging property.