MIGRATION OF BLOOD AND SYNOVIAL-FLUID NEUTROPHILS OBTAINED FROM PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 39  (1) , 240-246
Abstract
The unstimulated random migration and the serum-induced chemokinesis of neutrophils obtained from the peripheral blood of 19 patients with rheumatoid arthritis was not different from those of 20 controls. However, neutrophils obtained from the joint fluid of 10 rheumatoid patients demonstrated a reduced serum-induced chemokinesis which was correlated with the amount of immune complexes present in the synovial fluid. The chemotactic response of peripheral blood neutrophils from 11 subjects with rheumatoid arthritis taking aspirin was increased while that of those 8 rheumatoid subjects not taking aspirin was the same as controls. Although there is no impairment of the in vitro migratory capacities of peripheral blood neutrophils obtained from patients with rheumatoid arthritis, neutrophils obtained from synovial fluids exhibit a marked defect in chemokinesis which may be related to the ingestion of immune complexes within the joint space.