IMMUNOBIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI PORINS

Studies were carried out on some biological activities of Helicobacter pylori porins in vitro. We extracted and purified a porin with an apparent molecular mass of 30 kDa. Human polymorphonuclear leukocytes preincubated with H. pylori porins showed a decrease of chemotaxis, of adherence to nylon wool, and of chemiluminescence. Used as chemotaxins in place of zymosan-activated serum or as chemotaxinogens in place of zymosan, the porins induced polymorphonuclear leukocyte migration. Human monocytes and lymphocytes cultivated in the presence of H. pylori porins released cytokines. Release of the various cytokines studied was obtained with differentiated kinetics and at various porin concentrations. Starting only 3 h after culture, tumor necrosis factor alpha is released quickly, reaching a peak at 18 h, at a porin concentration of 1 mu g/ml/10(6) cells). Interleukin-6 (IL 6) appears later, with a peak at 10 mu ml/10(6) cells, while IL-8 is released after 6 h of culture, with a peak at 24 h, at a porin concentration of 10 mu g/ml/10(6) cells. Lymphocytes stimulated by H. pylori porins release gamma interferon after 18 h of culture at higher concentrations of porins (20 mu g/ml/10(6) cells). Granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor is released from 6 to 48 h at a concentration of 1 (mu g/ml/10(6) cells, while both IL-3 and IL-4 are released after 18 h of culture at different porin concentrations (0.1 and 1 mu g/ml/10(6) cells, respectively). Our results lead us to think that during H. pylori infection, surface components, porins in particular, are able to induce a series of chain reactions ranging from the inflammatory to the immunological responses.