SECA, a new mediator of the human eosinophil response

Spontaneous eosinophilic chemotactic activity (SECA) present in human sera can mediate the directed movement of normal human eosinophils. Our data utilize normal peripheral blood eosinophils obtained from subjects with 500 eosinophils/m3 or less. SECA is defined as that chemotactic activity for eosinophils present in serum that has been heat-inactivated immediately after collection. It was demonstrated in patients with severe chronic eczema with eosinophilia (20 to 30%); mixed collagen vascular disease with vasculitis; clinical serum sickness; acute glomerulonephritis, and chronic membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Control sera were obtained from normal, healthy individuals. The data indicated: (1) that SECA in patient sera was significantly higher than in control sera; (2) when activated by endotoxin, no additional chemotactic activity was generated from patient sera over that spontaneously present--by contrast, addition of endotoxin to control sera did result in increased chemotactic activity; (3) sera from patients with extrinsic bronchial asthma had no SECA.

Hemodialysis leukopenia and polymorph random mobility-a possible correlation

In vitro studies of polymorphs exposed to cellulose and polysulfone membranes showed severe impairment in randommobility with the cellulose membrane. In vivo studies with the two membranes showed that profound leukopenia occurred only when cellulose membrane was used. It is suggested that random mobility may have importance in the regulation of peripheral polymorph levels.

Phagocytic, opsonic and immunoglobulin studies in newborns

Despite improved diagnositc and therapeutic measures, neonatal septicemia continues to be a major clinical problem. Improvement in the management of the septic neonate should result from application of the increasing information being learned of the neonatal host defense mechanisms. The earlier concept that the neonate was "immunologically null" can now be discarded. Evidence summarized in this review has established that the neonate can marshal an immune response to most antigens and infectious agents.A further major advance in recent years has been in understanding of the inflammatory response in the neonate, which includes such activities as chemotaxis, phagocytosis and bactericidal killing of ingested bacteria by phagocytes.