[Kinetics of neutrophil granulocytes]

The kinetics of neutrophilic granulocytes are briefly reviewed. The cell traverses 3 compartments during its life cycle. After a phase of proliferation and maturation in the bone marrow for a period of about 10 days, it enters the blood for an average period of 10-12 h and then migrates into tissues where it survives for an unknown length of time. Although a quantitative understanding of normal neutrophil kinetics has emerged, our knowledge of disorders of neutropoiesis is limited. Progress in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of neutropoiesis is anticipated with improved methods of assessing quantitatively abnormal production and its regulation.