Abstract
Luminol-dependent chemiluminescence in whole blood (whole blood CL) was estimated using various kinds of whole blood from the patients with pediatric disease. Three types of information can be obtained from the kinetics of whole blood CL as previously shown1); 1) Total phagocytic function of whole blood which depends on the number of granulocytes in whole blood as the material and their function. 2) Phagocytic and microbicidal activity of granulocytes themselves. 3) Opsonic activity of whole blood for the agent which is phagocytosed. In the present study two types of CL inducer were used. One was nonopsonized zymosan, and the other was aggregated gamma globulin (Agg). The latter inducer can detect the real CL response of granulocytes, because it can induce CL without the opsonization. Results obtained in the present study were as follows; 1) Blood obtained from cord and newborn showed a prolonged time showing the peak CL, suggesting low opsonic activity. CL response of granulocytes themselves were slightly decreased in cord blood, but not in blood of newborn. 2) The patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) showed no CL response, and 2/3 of their mothers showed a moderately decreased response, suggesting that they are carriers of CGD. 3) Two patients with hypocomplementemia, namely SLE and chronic nephritis, showed a remarkably prolonged time showing the peak CL for zymosan as the CL inducer, but showed rather an enhanced response for Agg, suggesting that serum opsonic activity for zymosan, namely C3b, is low, but function of granulocytes themselves is enhanced. 4) Patients with pediatric malignancy tended to show a decreased peak CL of whole blood due to decreased number of granulocytes, but phagocytic function itself seemed to be not impaired. Some patients during chemotherapy showed a prolonged time showing the peak CL. It was suggested that chemotherapy, especially L-asparaginase, suppress the production of complement. 5) Phagocytic function of whole blood in patients with severe neutropenia was estimated after the granulocyte transfusion by the method of filtration leukaphresis, and an increased function was observed in 5 of 7 cases, but the degree was not enough compared with normal value. These results suggest that the method of whole blood CL is a useful one to evaluate the phagocytic function of whole blood and opsonic activity in the clinical laboratory.
