The effect of chemotherapeutic agents on chemotaxis and random migration of human leukocytes

Chemotherapeutic agents (CTAs) used for treatment of neoplastic and other diseases may influence defense mechanisms of the patient, altering various humoral and cellular immunologic functions. Herein we report the influence of 16 CTAs on random migration and chemotaxis of human polymorphonuclear cells (PMNCs), using two methods, under-agarose migration and double-filter Boyden chambers with 51Cr-PMNCs. Random migration was inhibited by vinblastine only (P less than .01). BCNU and daunorubicin inhibited random migration only when used in high concentrations. In under-agarose migration, only BCNU and vinblastine inhibited chemotaxis (P less than .01) in therapeutic concentrations. Inhibition was also observed when higher concentrations of vincristine were tested. In the Boyden method, marked inhibition of chemotaxis (P less than .01) was caused by BCNU, vinblastine, vincristine, daunorubicin, and doxorubicin. Inhibition of chemotaxis could not be reversed by washing the cells after preincubation. CTAs per se did not have chemoattractant activity. This study shows that some chemotherapeutic agents inhibit random and directed migration of human PMNCs. It also supports the evidence that Boyden chamber method may detect chemotactic abnormalities that escape recognition by the under-agarose migration method. Suppression of locomotion of PMNCs should be taken into consideration in patients treated with CTAs.