Prisco Mirandola (1) ,Giuliana Gobbi (1) ,Ivonne Sponzilli (1) ,Maurizia Pambianco (2) ,Chiara Malinverno (1) ,Antonio Cacchioli (3),Giuseppe De Panfilis (4) ,and Marco Vitale (1)
(1) Department of Anatomy, Pharmacology & Forensic Medicine,Human Anatomy Section, University of Parma, Ospedale Maggiore,via Gramsci, Parma, Italy; (2) Terme di Sirmione, Cell Biology Laboratory, Terme di Sirmione, Brescia, Italy; (3)Department of Animal Health, University of Parma, Italy; (4) Department of Surgery, Section of Dermatology, University of Parma, Italy
The toxic effects of exogenous hydrogen sulfide on peripheral blood lymphocytes have been investigated in detail. Hydrogen sulfide is now considered as a gasotransmitter with specific functional roles in different cell types, like neurons and vascular smooth muscle. Here we show that exogenous hydrogen sulfide induces a caspase-independent cell death of peripheral blood lymphocytes that depends on their intracellular glutathion levels, with a physiologically relevant subset specificity for CD8+ cells and NK cells. Although lymphocyte activation does not modify their sensitivity to HS-, after 24 h exposure to hydrogen sulfide surviving lymphocyte subsets show a dramatically decreased proliferation in response to mitogens and a reduced IL-2 production. Overall, our data demonstrate that HS- reduces the cellular cytotoxic response of peripheral blood lymphocytes as well as their production of IL-2, therefore deactivating the major players of local inflammatory responses,adding new basic knowledge to the clinically well known antiinflammatory effects of sulfur compounds.
J. Cell. Physiol. 213: 826–833, 2007.
2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. ORIGINAL ARTICLE 826 Journal of Cellular Physiology