Ss. Twining et al., NEUTROPHIL CATHEPSIN-G IS SPECIFICALLY DECREASED UNDER VITAMIN-A-DEFICIENCY, Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease, 1317(2), 1996, pp. 112-118
Vitamin A deficiency leads to an increased susceptibility to infection
s, increased severity of infections and increased mortality. Because t
he neutrophil is the first cell to respond to infection, this study ex
plores the effect of vitamin A deficiency on neutrophil proteinases. W
e found that neutrophils from vitamin A-deficient rats had lower level
s of two cathepsin G-like enzymes (28 and 24 kDa) when compared to neu
trophils from weight-matched pair-fed rats, vitamin A-deficient rats w
hich were repleted with retinyl palmitate and nonrestricted vitamin A
complete diet rats. The 28 kDa cathepsin G-like enzyme, which migrated
with the same mobility as elastase on SDS-polyacrylamide gels, was qu
antified using Western blots. The 24 kDa cathepsin G-like enzyme was q
uantified using zymogram gels. This activity was inhibited by chymosta
tin. Other neutrophil proteinases, elastase, plasminogen activators an
d gelatinase, were not altered significantly by vitamin A deficiency.
The low levels of cathepsin G may contribute to differences in the inf
lammatory process observed under vitamin A deficiency.