Monocyte Kinetic Studies in Normal and Disease States

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Abstract
Summary. Monocyte kinetics were studied in eight normal subjects and 27 patients suffering from various diseases: acute, subacute and chronic infections, malignant tumours, Boeck's sarcoid, neutropenia, and diseases associated with chronic exanthemata or splenomegaly. Autotransfusion of blood cells labelled with 3H‐diisopropylfluorophosphate in vitro was carried out and the fate of these cells in vivo was followed by autoradiographs of leucocyte concentrates prepared from venous samples.Within a few minutes the transfused monocytes equilibrated with the total blood monocyte pool (TBMP). As TBMP proved to be larger than the circulating monocyte pool (CMP), the existence of a marginal monocyte pool (MMP) was postulated. In normal subjects the CMP:MMP ratio averaged 1:3.5. Moderate deviations occurred in disease states. Monocytes left the vascular system at an exponential rate, the mean normal T4 being 8.4 hr. Slight prolongation of T4 was observed in some patients with monocytosis, the maximal values reaching 15 hr. Shortened T4 was found in one patient with acute infection (4.0 hr) and in another with gross splenomegaly (3.5 hr). The monocyte turnover rate (MTR) in normal subjects averaged 6 × 108 monocytes/hr or 7 × 106 monocytes/hr/kg. Highly significant positive correlations were evaluated between the blood monocyte count and TBMP or MTR respectively.