Incubation of INTJ07 cells with various clinical isolates of Campylobacter
jejuni resulted in secretion of interleukin-8 (IL-8) at levels ranging from
96 to 554 pg/ml at 21 h, The strains which produced the highest levels of
Its secretion were 81-176 and BT44. Induction of IL-8 secretion required li
ve cells of 81-176 and was dependent on de novo protein synthesis, Site-spe
cific mutants of 81-176, which were previously shown to be defective in adh
erence and invasion, resulted in reduced levels of secretion of IL-8, and c
heY mutants of strains 81-176 and 749, which are hyperadherent and hyperinv
asive, resulted in higher levels of IL-8 secretion. Another mutant of 81-17
6, which adheres at about 43% of the wild-type levels but is noninvasive, a
lso showed marked reduction in LL-g levels, suggesting that invasion is nec
essary for high levels of IL-8 secretion. When gentamicin was added to INT4
07 cells at 2 h after infection with 81-176, IL-8 secretion 22 h later was
equivalent to that of controls without gentamicin, suggesting that the even
ts which trigger induction and release of IL-8 occur early in the interacti
ons of bacteria and eukaryotic cells.