Effect of natural porcine surfactant in Staphylococcus aureus induced pro-inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species generation in monocytes and neutrophils from human blood

•Surfacen® reduce the levels of S. aureus-induced TNFα and IL-6 in human PBMC in vitro.•Surfacen® showed a biphasic effect on ROS generation in monocytes and neutrophils.•Surfactant has an anti-inflammatory effect in human blood cells in vitro.

Surfacen® is a clinical surfactant preparation of porcine origin. In the present study, we have evaluated the effect of Surfacen® in the modulation of oxidative burst in monocytes and neutrophils in human blood and pro-inflammatory cytokine production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was measured in monocytes and neutrophils by flow cytometry using 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) as substrate, while, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 levels were estimated in PBMC supernatant by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Our results show that Staphylococcus aureus-induced ROS level was slightly affected by Surfacen® added to whole blood monocytes and neutrophils. The time course experiments of pre-incubation with Surfacen® showed no significant increase of ROS level at 2 h; however, the ROS level decreased when pre incubated for 4 h and 6 h with Surfacen®. Pre-incubation of PBMC cells with Surfacen® at 0.125 and 0.5 mg/mL showed a dose-dependent suppression of TNF-α levels measured after 4 h of S. aureus stimulation, an effect less impressive when cells were stimulated for 24 h. A similar behavior was observed in IL-6 release. In summary, the present study provides experimental evidence supporting an anti-inflammatory role of Surfacen® in human monocytes and neutrophils in vitro.