Chemotactic and random movement of cord-blood granulocytes

Chemotactic responsiveness and random movement of cord-blood granulocytes were studied with a modified Boyden's method. Cord-blood granulocytes were less active chemotactically than granulocytes from healthy children and adults, whereas the random filter movement of the cells from all three sources was about the same. In cord sera, concentrations of cell directed chemotaxis inhibitors were equal to those in sera from other age groups. Compared with the situation in healthy children and adults, the generation of chemotactic factors in cord-blood sera was impaired. This impairment was not related to an increased activity of chemotactic factor inactivators. Measurement of the cyclic nucleotide levels in granulocytes from cord-blood and from children belonging to various age groups revealed that the cord granulocytes have significantly lower concentrations of cAMP and cGMP, which could have been responsible for the decreased chemotactic responsiveness.