Cystatin C (gamma-trace) was found to be a constitutively secreted protein of isolated human monocytes and mouse peritoneal macrophages, as well as the histiocytic lymphoma cell lines U937, P388D.1, and J774. This proteinase inhibitor is not uniquely secreted by monocytes/macrophages, but was also identified in the conditioned media from several primary cells, including brain cells, and diverse established cell lines. In vitro treatment of resident mouse peritoneal macrophages with either LPS or IFN-gamma caused a downregulation in cystatin C secretion. Elaboration of this protein was also diminished by macrophages that had been stimulated by thioglycollate in vivo, and treatment of these cells with LPS led to further decline. It is suggested that, under some inflammatory conditions, downregulation of cystatin C may contribute to tissue pathology.

The capacity of alveolar macrophages (AM) obtained from smokers and nonsmokers to secrete cathepsin B and its inhibitor cystatin C was examined because of the concept that an imbalance in the production of proteolytic enzymes and/or their inhibitors could be responsible for the lung damage seen in smokers. Quantitation of immunoprecipitates on Western blots showed that the amount of total cystatin C secreted into the culture medium by AM of smokers was significantly greater than the amount secreted by cells obtained from nonsmokers, whereas the difference between the amount of cathepsin B secreted by the AM of smokers and that from nonsmokers did not appear significant. The cystatin C found in the medium conditioned by AM of nonsmokers appeared to be more heterogeneous in molecular size, presenting either as a single band of about 14 Kd or as a high-molecular-weight triplet of about 69 Kd, 63 Kd, and 57.3 Kd. Furthermore, in some cases there were single or doublet bands at 14 Kd as well as the high-molecular-weight triplets. In contrast, smokers AM-conditioned medium uniformly possessed both the low-and the high-molecular-weight cystatin C. Cathepsin B was not detected in Western blots at its reported molecular weights but was identified at the exact area occupied by the higher molecular weight cystatin C, i.e., at bands corresponding to 69 Kd, 63 Kd, and 57.3 Kd. Therefore, it is clear that in culture media of AM, cystatin C and cathepsin B are present as proteinase-antiproteinase complexes. The observation also suggests that in smokers an excess of cystatin C may be elaborated, which, if further substantiated, would show for the first time a likely role for this proteinase inhibitor in vivo.