A single assay for measuring the rates of phagocytosis and bacterial killing by neutrophils

Abstract

We have developed a method that enables the rates of phagocytosis and killing of bacteria by neutrophils to be measured in a single assay. Neutrophils were incubated with bacteria, and at specific intervals were separated from uningested bacteria by low speed centrifugation. Rates of phagocytosis and killing were calculated from the decrease in number of extracellular bacteria and change in the number of intracellular bacteria. Both phagocytosis and killing were shown to follow first-order kinetics, and rate constants were calculated without having to separate the assay into two phases. In contrast to two-step methods, our method measures killing from the moment the neutrophils start ingesting the bacteria, and also eliminates the need to halt neutrophil activity temporarily and restart the assay after the extracellular bacteria have been removed. We obtained reproducible results for the phagocytosis and killing of Staphylococcus aureus (t1/2 = 9 min and 6 min respectively) and Escherichia coli (t1/2 = 10 min and 2 min respectively). We also were able to detect a 56% impairment in the rate of killing of S. aureus by neutrophils from an individual with a low level of myeloperoxidase.