Supply and Release of Storage Neutrophils

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Abstract
Depletion of the mature neutrophil reserve during bacterial sepsis is rare in adults but common in neonates; when it occurs, a fatal outcome is likely. Neutrophil reserve depletion was investigated in groups of premature, 1-day-old and 1-, 2-, and 4-week-old rats by measuring: (1) the size of the neutrophil storage pool, and (2) the proportion of this pool which was released from the storage compartment when a weight-standardized release stimulus was applied. It was found that the premature rat has a small neutrophil storage pool containing 1.28 ± 0.07 × 106 cells/g body weight (x ± SE). This pool size increases to contain 4.35 ± 0.23 × 106 cells/g in the 4-week-olds (p < 0.001). With a standard neutrophil storage pool release stimulus, the premature rats depleted 68 ± 4% of their neutrophil stores, vs. a depletion of only 13 ± 6% of the stores in the 4-week-olds (p < 0.001). The small neutrophil reserve and the exaggerated release of stored neutrophils in neonatal animals are factors which predispose neonates to neutrophil reserve exhaustion during bacterial sepsis.