Neutrophil migration in vivo and in vitro in healthy neutropenic subjects

Migration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) was studied in six healthy subjects with neutropenia (peripheral blood neutrophil count less than or equal to 1.5 X 10(9)/1). Determined as migration differentials, chemotactic and chemokinetic responsiveness tended to be higher in the neutropenic group. Despite this slight tendency to increased responsiveness in vitro, migration in vivo proceeded more slowly in the neutropenic group than in the control group: at 12 hours the leukocyte counts in the skin chamber media were significantly lower, whereas at 24 hours they were nearly normal. Our results show that PMN migration in healthy neutropenic subjects is different from that in healthy non-neutropenic subjects. These differences should be taken into account in the evaluation of the role of aberrant PMN migration in the development of infectious episodes in a neutropenic patient.