[Plasma lactoferrin and the blood count of polynuclear neutrophils]

Plasmatic lactoferrin measure (LF) by immuno-enzymatic technique combined with neutrophil blood count (PN) on 100 subjects (controls and patients) allows us to show a LF increase proportional to circulating blood neutrophils. In neutropenia, plasmatic lactoferrin measure seems able to divide the central causes from the peripheric ones. Regarding the granulocytosis, LF levels are clearly higher in myeloproliferative diseases than in other causes. Lactoferrin could therefore represent an index of total circulating neutrophil pool but also seems to reflect the granulocyte activation.