Phagocytosis by Human Leucocytes. II. Relation of Nutritional Deficiency in Man to Phagocytosis1

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Abstract
Phagocytosis of coagulase positive and coagulase negative staphylococci by neutrophils from 20 severely malnourished and 17 control subjects was studied in vitro. No significant difference in the mean phagocytosis of the microorganisms was found between the groups. Phagocytosis was not related to patient age, total serum protein, albumin or globulin. The total number of circulating viable neutrophils appeared to be of the same order in patients during the last days of a prolonged wasting disease compared with control subjects. The increased incidence of infection found in malnourished patients is probably not often related to a defect in the capacity of neutrophils to ingest microorganisms.