Kinetics of transfused neutrophils

Rational neutrophil transfusion therapy depends upon an understanding of the in vivo fate of the transfused cells. The ability of transfused cells to circulate and to accumulate at sites of inflammation in the recipient is profoundly affected by abnormalities in the viability of the cells transfused as well as by abnormalities in the recipient. Autologous transfusion studies in normal subjects have shown that cells collected by centrifugation are kinetically nearly normal in vivo, whereas cells collected by filtration are markedly abnormal. Storage of either cell preparation for one day results in substantial additional abnormalities. Studies in animals have shown that recipient variables such as inflammation, endotoxin, or neutropenia significantly alter the kinetics of transfused normal cells and that the inflammatory site accumulation of cells in such animals is not reliably predicted by the blood kinetic measurements. Problems associated with labelling neutrophils for kinetic studies are discussed.