Neutrophil migration in vivo: analysis of a skin window technique

The applicability of a skin chamber technique for the quantitation of neutrophil migration in vivo was studied in healthy subjects. Skin lesions were generated on lower abdominal skin by separating epidermis from dermis by suction. In 23 subjects the mean chamber cell count at 24 h was 20.9 X 10(6)/cm2 of skin lesion area, and 97.5% of the cells were neutrophils. An analysis of the variance in up to 8 parallel chambers in 10 subjects supported the use of 4 simultaneous replicates. Reproducibility in consecutive experiments was studied by testing 9 persons twice; the results were found to agree closely. Kinetic studies were performed in 15 subjects. The method is useful for the in vivo study of diseases and medications thought to affect leukocyte function.