Function of neutrophils in preleukaemia.
The function of blood neutrophil granulocytes was studied in vitro in 17 patients with preleukaemia. 3 patients had a cellular defect of chemotaxis. 2 of them had monosomy-7 in bone marrow karyotype, in 1 associated with the deletion of the long arm of a chromosome 20. The third patient had trisomy-8. In the patient with trisomy-8, the high percentage of band neutrophils was possibly associated with the chemotactic defect. In another patient with trisomy-8 chemotaxis was normal. There was a statisically significant tendency to reduced phagocytosis and impaired ability to kill Staphylococcus aureus. 1 patient with a chemotactic defect and monosomy-7 suffered from repeated infections. The other 2 patients with defective chemotaxis had several febrile episodes most probably of infectious origin, and 1 of them died in sepsis. All of these 3 patients had cutaneous abscesses. It is concluded that defects in neutrophil granulocyte function are not uncommon in preleukaemia and may result in reduced resistance to infection.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000782:Aneuploidy; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002903:Chromosomes, Human, 19-20; D002906:Chromosomes, Human, 6-12 and X; D005260:Female; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000502:physiology*; D010587:Phagocytosis; D011289:Preleukemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D014314:Trisomy