Mean Percentage Of Neutrophils Research Articles

Influence of climatic changes on respiratory health in a teaching herd of outdoor-housed horses

Horses maintained outdoors may experience a lower-allergenic environment compared to their stabled counterparts. This study hypothesizes that climatic changes in southern Brazil can influence respiratory status. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the lower airways of 17 horses from a teaching herd in southern Brazil, maintained outdoors, during winter, spring, and summer. Except for one mare with a history of severe asthma, all horses were considered healthy and underwent a physical examination. Airway endoscopic evaluation included scoring for tracheal mucus (0−5) and bronchial septum thickness (1−5). Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected at three time points, while bronchial septum biopsies were performed during spring and summer for airway epithelial investigation. Data analysis involved repeated measures ANOVA and Wilcoxon tests (p < 0.05). Tracheal mucus score and septal thickness did not differ across investigation periods. In BALF cytology, the mean percentage of neutrophils was higher in spring than summer (7.9 ± 13.4 % vs. 4.5 ± 11.7 %, P = 0.037), and eosinophil count was higher in winter than spring (0.64 ± 1.29 % vs. 0.03 ± 0.13 %, P = 0.034) and summer (0.64 ± 1.29 % vs. 0.14 ± 0.60 %, P = 0.023). Histopathological observations showed no differences between time points, and no correlations were observed with BALF analyses (P > 0.05). This study demonstrates that, even in an outdoor environment, horses' airways exhibit cytological modifications associated with different seasons, indicating a need for deeper investigation; endobronchial biopsy did not contribute to the clinical diagnosis.

Hematology and plasma chemistry reference intervals for wild population of Alburnus chalcoides (Guldenstadt, 1772): Influence of sex, habitat and seasonal variation

The study was aimed to establish reference interval for some blood biochemical (sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium) and hematological (total count of white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, and eosinophils) indices in both sexes of Alburnus chalcoides in response to its habitats with different physiochemical conditions and to seasonal variation. Fish samples were collected from its seasonal habitats, including river, estuary, and Caspian Sea. The mean concentration of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium in plasma of fish were 134.69±13.61 (mmol/l), 3.26±0.83 (mmol/l), 11.65±1.82 (mg/dl) and 2.13±1.12 (mmol/l), respectively. These electrolytes demonstrated significant differences between the male and female as well as between the fish collected from different habitats. Total WBCs count was 6045.35±960.25 (per mm 3 ) and the mean percentage of neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes and eosinophils were 26.55±3.37%, 67.74±3.72%, 3.04±0.70% and 0.98±0.04%, respectively. WBCs generally showed considerable differences between male and female. Furthermore, a higher percentage of monocytes, neutrophils and eosinophils were observed in the fish collected from river and estuary during spring and summer. The study demonstrated that differences in sex, habitat and seasonal variation cause variation in hematology and plasma chemistry reference intervals for wild population of A. chalcoides when migrating between its natural habitats.

Advanced age does not diminish phagocytic activity or NET production in zebrafish (Danio rerio) kidney leukocytes

Abstract The pace of growth in populations over the age of 65 is increasing in the U.S. and worldwide, posing serious challenges for health care systems. Studies in both humans and mice have revealed evidence of dysregulation of innate immunity in older individuals, although experimental systems and results of those studies vary widely. To explore whether the zebrafish (Danio rerio) model could be valuable in understanding the effects of aging on innate immune processes, we assessed phagocytic activity, respiratory burst response and neutrophil extracellular trap formation (NETosis) by anterior kidney phagocytes from healthy young (7–8 months old) and aged (&amp;gt;2.5 year old) zebrafish. Exposing leukocytes from transgenic mpx:GFP fish to opsonized pHrodo-labeled killed E. coli for 30 or 60 minutes revealed is no difference in the mean percentage of neutrophils that phagocytosed bacteria between the two ages at either time point. Interestingly, older fish displayed a wider range of responses and a higher level of individual variability than the younger population. Active neutrophils from the aged fish also exhibited a higher mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) than young fish at 30 min incubation, but fluorescence levels were similar in the two populations after 60 minutes of incubation. Leukocytes from older and younger wild type AB fish showed identical respiratory burst responses to PMA. When NET production was stimulated by calcium ionophore, neutrophils from aged AB zebrafish exhibited a higher NET index than the younger cohort. These initial results indicate that older zebrafish preserve a similar level of activity, if not hints of higher activity, in tested neutrophil functions compared to younger fish.

Histopathological and immunohistochemical characterization of Burkholderia pseudomallei lesions in an acute model of infection with BALB/c mice.

SummaryOrgan tissue damage is a key contributor to host morbidity and mortality following infection with microbial agents. Severe immune responses, excessive cellular recruitment and necrosis of cells all play a role in disease pathology. Understanding the pathogenesis of disease can aid in identifying potential new therapeutic targets or simply act as a diagnostic tool. Burkholderia pseudomallei is a Gram‐negative bacterium that can cause acute and chronic diseases. The BALB/c mouse has been shown to be highly susceptible to aerosol challenge with B. pseudomallei and hence acts as a good model to study the acute and potentially lethal form of the disease melioidosis. In our study, BALB/c mice were challenged and culled at predetermined time points to generate a pathological time course of infection. Lung, liver and spleen were subjected to pathological and immunohistochemical analysis. The number and type of microscopic lesions within each organ, as well as the location and the mean percentage of neutrophils, B cells, T cells and Burkholderia capsule antigen within the lesions, were all characterized during the time course. Neutrophils were determined as the key player in tissue pathology and generation of lesions, with B cells playing an insignificant role. This detailed pathological assessment increases our understanding of B. pseudomallei disease.

Correlation of Genetic Heterogeneity with Cytopathological and Epidemiological Findings of Leishmania major Isolated from Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Southern Iran

Objective: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) has recently grown into a major public health problem in 88 countries of the world, including Iran. It is a polymorphic disease which may show various clinicopathological features. Although the effect of the genetic diversity of the parasite has been demonstrated as one of the factors influencing clinical manifestations in CL, no data exist regarding the genetic variation of Leishmania major and its microscopical features. Study Design: Fine-needle aspiration, touch smears and the histological sections of 100 patients were examined for Leishmania amastigotes, using Giemsa and hematoxylin and eosin. Diverse types of inflammatory cells in the 40 positive and 5 negative smears were differentiated. Kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) was amplified using nested PCR and subsequently sequenced. Sequencing analysis of the amplified kDNA was used to investigate the genetic variations among L. major isolates and to correlate the findings with microscopical features and geographical origins. Results: The quantified amastigote density in the 40 positive touch smears was blindly classified by 3 observers. Grade I, II, III and IV had 7, 13, 9 and 11 cases, respectively. The microscopical features, the mean percentage of neutrophils, lymphocytes and other inflammatory cells, and the leishmanial density of the grades and negative cytopathological samples were contrasting. kDNA amplification of L. major was detected from the cutaneous lesion, and 21 of these amplicons were successfully sequenced. Conclusions: These results indicate that L. major strains causing CL in southern Iran are genetically diverse; furthermore, a correlation between the genetic heterogeneity of the parasite, the microscopical manifestation and the geographical regions of the disease in humans was found.

Adverse Prognostic Impact of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been lightened as a prognostic factor in many types of solid tumor. However, there was a limited report for diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Thus, we investigated the impact of NLR and PLR on prognosis of patients with DLBCL. This study involved 234 DLBCL patients treated by rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone (R-CHOP) at National Cancer Center, Korea. The median patient age was 57 years, and 135 patients (58%) were men. Clinical characteristics as international prognostic index (IPI) including age, performance, LDH, stage and extra-nodal involvement, were evaluated. NLR and PLR at diagnosis were calculated by CBC data from automated hematologic analyzer XE2100 (Sysmex, Kobe, Japan) or differential count which was done by manually using stained peripheral blood slide when CBC data showed flags in auto-analyzer. Hazard ratios (HRs) were determined in terms of risk for overall survival using Cox proportional hazard regression analysis. The mean percentage of neutrophils and lymphocytes was 60 (range, 5-95) and 12 (2-79), and the number of platelets was 257 × 10^9/L (28-839). The mean and standard deviation of NLR and PLR was 3.62 (±4.77) and 14.7 (±20.16), respectively. IPI and stage were predictors for prognosis (p <0.01), and both NLR and PLR showed significant association with poor prognosis of HRs of 1.14 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.10 to 1.20] and 1.02 [95%CI, 1.02-1.03]. Although both NLR and PLR represented association with IPI, there were still prognostic impacts as HR of 1.12 and 1.02 with IPI in multivariate analysis. These findings suggest that NRL and PLR may be significant prognostic indicators for patients with DLBCL treated by R-CHOP. DisclosuresNo relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Induced Sputum in Systemic Sclerosis Interstitial Lung Disease: Comparison to Healthy Controls and Bronchoalveolar Lavage

Background: Induced sputum (IS) is a noninvasive tool, which can be used to collect cellular and soluble materials from lung airways. Objective: To evaluate if IS may be a useful and safe tool for the detection of airway inflammation in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods: Sixty-eight patients with SSc and ILD as well as 18 healthy individuals (controls) were selected and submitted to IS examination. In 34 of 68 patients with SSc, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was also performed. Safety of IS was assessed by comparison of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁), FEV₁/forced vital capacity ratio and peak expiratory flow before and after the IS procedure. Cell composition in samples collected by BAL and IS was correlated, and IS total and differential cell count in SSc patients and controls were compared. Results: The total number of cells was significantly higher in IS samples of SSc patients compared to those of healthy controls. Mean percentage of neutrophils was also higher in SSc patients (41.79 ± 23.89 vs. 27.37 ± 17.90), as well as lymphocytes (17.42 ± 19.70 vs. 3.13 ± 2.28) and eosinophils (2.35 ± 4.43 vs. 0.41 ± 0.46). On the other hand, mean percentage of macrophages was higher in healthy individuals (69.10 ± 19.15 vs. 36.96 ± 20.68). In fluid recovered by BAL, the most frequent cells were macrophages (67.89% ± 17.26), while neutrophils (14.77 ± 17.18%) and lymphocytes (15.62 ± 13.46%) were less frequent and eosinophils (1.66 ± 2.08%) were rare. A similar pattern of cell composition was found in IS samples (41.15 ± 21.67% of macrophages, 39.72 ± 23.15% of neutrophils, 15.28 ± 19.46% of lymphocytes and 2.56 ± 5.03% of eosinophils). Strength of correlation between BAL and IS was significant for macrophages and neutrophils. After IS procedure was performed, improvement of FEV₁ (mean value before IS was 85.09 ± 14.44 and 88.93 ± 16.40 after IS) and FEV₁/forced vital capacity (mean value before IS was 98.53 ± 12.11 and 105.22 ± 10.78 after IS) was observed. Conclusion: The IS method may allow a noninvasive assessment of cell composition in airway fluid and may contribute to the better understanding of upper/medium airway inflammation in SSc. Future studies are needed to verify whether IS can replace invasive procedures for the detection and monitoring of lung inflammation in SSc.

Changes in sputum composition during 15 min of sputum induction in healthy subjects and patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The use of sputum induction by inhalation of hypertonic saline to study the cellular and biochemical composition of the airways allows noninvasive sampling of the airways content and identification of markers of airways inflammation. The present study aimed to identify possible changes in the cellular composition of induced sputum between samples obtained sequentially (three periods of 5 min each) during one sputum induction. Moreover, difference between these samples and the mixed one (mixture of samples obtained after 5, 10 and 15 min of induction) was investigated. Forty-six subjects (10 healthy volunteers, 12 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 24 patients with asthma) (mean age 53.0+/-14.0 yr, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)) 71.8+/-19.0% pred) produced sputum after three consecutive 5 min periods of hypertonic (4.5%) saline inhalation. Stained cytospins from the three periods separately and from the mixed sample were produced and analyzed. The mean percentage of neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes and epithelial cells did not change significantly in samples obtained consecutively after 5, 10 and 15 min of the induction procedure. There was no significant difference in the cellular composition of samples obtained after 5, 10 and 15 min of induction and the cellular composition of the mixed sample (P=0.06). The separate analysis of induced sputum from three consecutive sampling and the mixed sample did not demonstrate significant changes in their cellular composition. Fifteen minutes induction procedure with the fixed concentration of hypertonic saline and processing of the mixed sample can be recommended for clinical settings and clinical trials.

Comparison of tracheal aspirates and bronchoalveolar lavage in racehorses 2. Evaluation of the diagnostic significance of neutrophil percentage

To determine whether diagnosis of airway inflammation, using cut-off percentages for neutrophils, differs when based on samples from tracheal aspirate (TA) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) collected concomitantly from the same racehorse. Retrospective case series of 48 young Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses in race training, but showing poor performance. PROCEDURE TA and BAL samples were collected from all horses 1 to 2 h after high-speed treadmill exercise. Aliquots of the retrieved fluid were cytocentrifuged and smears stained with Diff-Quik. The mean percentage of neutrophils was calculated. Diagnostic cut-off points were set at 20% for TA samples and 5% for BAL samples. Agreement in the interpretations between the two techniques was analysed. In 19 of 51 paired samples (37%) there were differences in diagnostic interpretation between TA and BAL samples. Of these, airway inflammation was indicated only by the TA sample in 13 and only by the BAL in 6. TA and BAL samples give important information about different regions of the airway, but neither should be used alone for the diagnosis of inflammation of the entire lung. The limitations of these procedures mean that both samples should be collected when it is desired to cytologically evaluate the entire lower airway.

Phagocytosis by uterine fluid and blood neutrophils and hematological changes in postpartum cows following normal and abnormal parturition

Phagocytosis by uterine fluid and blood neutrophils and hematological changes were studied in three groups of cows (n=5 each) on Days 1 (blood only), 2 and then at 3-day intervals up to 32 days post partum. Group I cows had a normal delivery, Group II cows had dexamethasone-induced parturition, and Group III cows were subjected to elective caesarian section. All cows in Group III and two cows in Group II retained their fetal membranes. The mean number of bacteria phagocytosed by neutrophils in the uterine fluid and the mean percentage of neutrophils in the uterine fluid actively phagocytosing peaked at the 5th day in Groups I and II and on the 10th day post partum in Group III; they then declined gradually toward the 20th day post partum in the three groups. Changes in the mean phagocytic index values were similar to those of the mean number of bacteria phagocytosed by neutrophils from the uterine fluid. There were significant (P<0.01) differences among parturition groups and among sampling days after calving in the mean number of bacteria phagocytosed and killed by neutrophils and in the mean phagocytic index of neutrophils in the uterine fluid. Also, there were significant (P<0.01) group-by-day post partum interactions for the mean number of bacteria phagocytosed and for the mean phagocytic index of neutrophils. There were significant (P<0.01) differences among parturition groups in the mean percentage of Candida albicans ( C. albicans ) phagocytosed and killed by blood neutrophils and the interaction between parturition group and day post partum was also significant (P<0.01) for the mean percentage of C. albicans killed by blood neutrophils. The mean blood total leucocyte and absolute blood lymphocyte counts as well as the neutrophil counts dropped sharply after parturition and then increased gradually toward the end of the experimental period. There were significant (P<0.01) differences among groups and among sampling days in the mean blood total leucocyte, the absolute blood lymphocyte and the neutrophil counts. Significant (P<0.05) differences among parturition groups and sampling days for the absolute blood monocyte and eosinophil counts were also found. The phagocytic activity of leucocytes in the uterine fluid seems to play a crucial role in stopping the propagation and establishment of bacterial infection in the uterus immediately after calving and thereafter.

Comparison of cell profiles on bronchial and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids between normal subjects and patient with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

The cell profiles of bronchial and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BLF and BALF) of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) were compared with those of normal volunteers (NV) and age-matched control patients (CP), to characterize the cell profiles of the bronchoalveolar region in normals and patients with IPF. In BALF of nonsmokers from both control groups (NV and CP), alveolar macrophages (AM) were predominant and the percentage of neutrophil leukocytes and that of eosinophil leukocytes below 1% of the total cells. The percentage of neutrophils and that of bronchial epithelial cells were higher in BLF than in BALF of both control groups. Of the immune and inflammatory cells in BLF, the mean percentage of neutrophils was 12% in NV group and 42% in CP group. The percentage of neutrophils and that of eosinophils in BALF were higher in IPF group than in CP group, but the percentage of neutrophils in BLF of IPF group was comparable to that of CP group. In the IPF group, the percentage of neutrophils in BALF was lower than that in BLF. These results indicated that even in healthy subjects, a considerable number of neutrophils are present in the bronchial region and that the cell profile of the lavage fluid of the bronchoalveolar tree changes depending on the method of lavage. Presumably the higher percentage of neutrophils in BALF of patients with IPF is partly due to derangements of the alveolar structure, because the amount of saline infused into this region is limited.