Research in Medicine

Background : Elevated levels of intracellular and extracellular carbohydrates or even in vitro can cause cellular dysfunction that may lead to death. This disorder in diabetic and galactosemic patients paves the way for systemic immune dysfunction and made the patients susceptible for infections. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of glycation of culture medium on phagocytic and respiratory burst of peritoneal macrophages from Balb/c mice

Materials and methods : It was an experimental study. Macrophages were obtained from peritoneal cavity lavage of the pure Balb/c mice. Cells were harvested in complete tissue culture medium including different levels of glucose and galactos (5mM to 30 mM) while control group lack any sugar in the medium. E.coli has been used to study the rates of ingestion and killing activity of the cells under these conditions. The adhesion of macrophages was assessed by the average adhered cells in some microscopic fields and also the morphological changes were evaluated. The oxidative and respiratory burst were measured with NBT reduction test. With the counting of the E.coli ingested in cells and also with the numbering of the cells ingested the E.coli, the rate of ingestion, was determined. In order to study the killing activity of the macrophages, after incubation of the macrophages and E.coli with some stimulators, the number of E.coli left in the culture medium was determined by two different ways: Standard mc farland tubes and colony counting

Results : Reduced adhesion and phagocytic morphogenesis were found in media with 15 and 30mM of galactose as compared with other media and control group (p<0.05). Meanwhile, number of ingested bacteria was significantly differed in media with concentration of 30mM and the control group. Elevated levels of carbohydrates significantly impaired the bactericidal activities (ingestion and killing), however, respiratory burst of the cells were not changed.

Conclusion: Increased concentration of glucose and galactose cause impairment of the morphological changes and adhesion of the macrophages, whereas, respiratory burst function remains unchanged. Recurrent infections in diabetic and galactosemic patients may be explained by this phagocytic impairment.