Oxidative stress produces dual effects on the respiratory burst of rat alveolar macrophages. Preincubation with hydroperoxide concentrations [H2O2 or tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BOOH); < 50 microM] enhances stimulation of the respiratory burst, whereas higher concentrations inhibit stimulation. Both the enhancement and inhibition are markedly attenuated by buffering t-BOOH-induced changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). Phosphorylation of the NADPH oxidase component p47phox and its translocation from cytoplasm to plasma membrane are essential in respiratory burst activation. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-stimulated p47phox phosphorylation was negligibly affected by 25 or 100 microM t-BOOH. Nonetheless, 25 microM t-BOOH increased PMA-stimulated p47phox translocation, whereas 100 microM t-BOOH decreased PMA-stimulated translocation. In unstimulated cells, however, neither phosphorylation nor translocation of p47phox was affected by t-BOOH. Buffering of the t-BOOH-mediated changes of [Ca2+]i abolished the effects of t-BOOH on PMA-stimulated translocation in parallel to effects upon the respiratory burst. The results suggest that the dual effects of hydroperoxides are mediated, in part, by Ca(2+)-dependent processes affecting the assembly of the respiratory burst oxidase at steps that are separate from p47phox phosphorylation.