A skin chamber technique for leukocyte migration studies; description and reproducibility

An in vivo skin chamber method, using lesions obtained by suction, was evaluated for studying leukocyte migration. No dyspigmentation or scar was seen after two months. The number of leukocytes accumulated in the collection chamber was 6.9 X 10(7)/cm2 and was correlated to the area of the lesion (r = 0.964). Reproducibility, essentially unchanged over an extended period, was 19% for one skin chamber and 13.6% for determinations with duplicate chambers; by comparison, with an under-agarose technique, the coefficient of variation for migration was low on consecutive days (6%), but much higher (29%) when determined over a longer period. No correlation was found between the skin chamber technique and chemotaxis or random migration determined with the under-agarose technique (r = -0.38 and 0.12 respectively). Zymosan-activated serum attracted a higher number of leukocytes than did fresh serum, whereas heat-inactivated serum attracted a lower number. This attraction seems to be partly caused by C5a, as a higher C5a-concentration was detected in zymosan-activated serum and in fresh serum after 24 hours in a collection chamber than in heat-inactivated serum.