The alterative effect of isobutylmethylxanthine in hypofunctional human neutrophil chemotaxis

The effects of isobutylmethylxanthine on the locomotion of chemotactically normofunctional and hypofunctional human neutrophils were compared. The hypofunctional cells were obtained from the peripheral blood of selected subjects with juvenile periodontitis. The chemically oriented migration (i.e. chemotaxis) of these cells was less than 50% of normal. Isobutylmethylxanthine caused a doubling of the CHO.Met.Leu.Phe.OH-induced chemotactic responsiveness of hypofunctional cells, while no effect of the drug was detected with respect to random migration. Isobutylmethylxanthine had no effect on chemotaxis or random migration in the normofunctional cell populations. Since isobutylmethylxanthine inhibits cAMP catabolism, these data suggest that the cyclic nucleotide plays a role in intracellular transduction mechanisms which affect chemotaxis.