Chronic granulomatous disease in a 23-year-old female

A 23-year-old girl with clinical and laboratory findings characteristic of chronic granulomatous disease is described. The patient was admitted to hospital because of severe disseminated aspergillosis. Studies of neutrophils showed normal phagocytosis but impaired microbicidal killing and a failure of the respiratory burst activity as measured by NBT-reduction, superoxide generation, chemiluminescence and antibody-dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity. Patient's neutrophils had normal chemotactic responsiveness but a marked impairment in the level of serum chemotactic activity was observed. Neutrophils from the parents and 2 maternal aunts showed normal values for all the determinations. The lack of evidence for a carrier state in all the family members studied together with the inability to detect a mixed population of neutrophils in our patient are in contrast with the Lyon's hypothesis of X-chromosome inactivation. Our findings suggest an autosomal recessive inheritance in this female with chronic granulomatous disease.