title: Decreased phagocytic function in patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: To determine the phagocytic function of the peripheral blood polymorphonuclears from patients with treated and untreated Parkinson's disease (PD), these cells were incubated with latex particles and the number of phagocytes, as well as the number of particles engulfed by each individual cell, were counted. Cells of untreated PD patients were significantly less phagocytotic than those of matched subjects without neurological or immune disorders (24% vs. 45%, P < 0.001). In addition, phagocytes from PD patients engulfed less particles per cell than those of the controls (8.4 +/- 0.7 vs. 16.5 +/- 1.3, P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in both functions in untreated and treated PD. The results indicate that in addition to the known immune alterations in patients with PD, the ability of their peripheral blood phagocytic cells to engulf latex particles is impaired.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine C, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tiqva, Israel.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bergman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Djaldetti
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bessler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Djaldetti
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007980:Levodopa / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007980:Levodopa