Neutrophil Chemotactic Factor in Eel Blood Plasma

Abstract

For elucidation of chemicalal mediators of the acue inflammatory reaction, leucocytic chemotactic factor in eel blood plasma was investigated by Boyden's in vitro assay system, which is to judge chemotaxis by migratory activity of leucocytes through a micropore filter to test material. The eel blood plasma which is known to have hemolytic activity, became chemoattractive for eel neutrophils when incubated with rabbit erythrocytes. This chemotactic factor did not orig-inate from the hemolysate but was produced by the reaction of the blood plasma with the cell membrane of rabbit erythrocytes. Similar chemotactic responses of neutrophils were also induced by the reaction of the blood plasma with zymosatt (cell wall of yeast), sephadex and inulin. The production of the chemoattractant was closely related with the hemolytic activity. Whereas both were decreased by heat treatment, the, individual variations of the productivity of the chemo-tactic factor correlated with that of the hemolytic activity, and the blood plasma which became chemoattractive by zymosan treatment showed no hemolytic activity. Both the hemolytic activity and the production of chemotactic factor are inferred to originate from the activation of the com-element system in the blood plasma via the alternative pathway.