C5a-Specific Modulation of Phagocyte Functions in Patients with Localized Bacterial Infections

Abstract

Chemotaxis, enzyme release and superoxide-anion (O − 2) generation of purified peripheral blood neutrophils (PMN) and monocytes were studied in a total of 87 patients suffering from localized bacterial infections. Shortly after disease onset, single or several PMN functions became non-responsive to the complement split product C5a. Functional activities elicited by the synthetic peptide f-met-leu-phe or leukotriene B 4 remained unaltered. C5a-specific impairment lasted one to several days and returned to normal with the subsidence of the disease. C5a elicited release of β-glucuronidase as well as generation of superoxide-anions was seen more often to be impaired as compared to chemotactic migration. In contrast to PMN, monocytes from the same patients failed to show paralleling C5aspecific functional alterations. There was no correlation between impairment of PMN functions and plasma levels of the complement split-products C3a and C4a as determined by RIA. It is concluded that in acute infectious disease a graded C5a-specific modulation of PMN functions may be present. This phenomenon is transient and not paralleled by functional alterations of monocytes or changes in plasma complement levels.