Functional properties of polymorphonuclear leukocytes accumulated in a skin chamber

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes harvested from a skin chamber were compared with peripheral blood leukocytes by examining their migration under agarose, their bactericidal capacity and their chemiluminescence. The chamber leukocytes were chemotactically de-activated and their bactericidal capacity reduced. The chemiluminescent response of chamber leukocytes was increased. In response to stimulation with formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (first peak), chemiluminescence was far more marked in chamber leukocytes (10-30 times) than in blood leukocytes, whereas in response to stimulation with opsonized zymosan it was only moderately more marked (3-5 times). Exposed to zymosan activated serum, blood leukocytes showed a similar functional modification as leukocytes harvested from a skin chamber, and our findings suggest that the altered function of leukocytes at an inflammatory focus is largely the result of their exposure to chemotactic factors.