A neutrophil disorder induced by capnocytophaga, a dental micro-organism

We recovered capnocytophaga, a gram-negative anaerobe implicated in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease, from two patients with a history of dental infections. Neutrophils from both patients failed to acquire the asymmetric shape characteristic of normal neutrophils. Fluorescein staining of the patients' living neutrophils remained diffuse and patchy instead of showing the normal pattern in which the fluorescence is swept into the rear of the cell. The locomotion of one patient's neutrophils in vitro was less than 50 per cent of that of normal neutrophils, and migration of this patient's neutrophils into dermal abrasions was reduced, although phagocytosis and nitroblue tetrazolium reduction were normal. All abnormalities of neutrophil morphology and function disappeared after eradication of the capnocytophaga infections. Sonicates and culture medium of capnocytophaga contained a dialyzable substance that caused normal neutrophils to behave like neutrophils obtained from the infected patients.