Neutrophil kinetics in the dog.

The production of neutrophils in dogs has been estimated from the number of postmitotic neutrophils in the marrow and the transit time of a [3H]-thymidine pulse. The number of postmitotic neutrophils was derived from the erythron iron turnover measurement of erythroid number and the neutrophil-erythroid ratio in bone marrow sections. The mean value for marrow postmitotic neutrophils in dogs was 5.61 plus or minus 0.56 times 10-9 cells/kg. The mean transit time of these neutrophils was calculated to be 82.1 h. A marrow production of 1.65 times 10-9 neutrophils/kg/day was calculated from these data. The turnover of circulating neutrophils was measured by [3H]thymidine and [32P]diisopropylphospho-fluoridate (DF32P) labeling of blood neutrophils. [3H]-Thymidine labeling gave a calculated recovery of 65 per cent, a t1/2 disappearance time of 6.7 h, and a calculated turnover of 1.66 times 10-9 cells/kg/day. Corresponding results with DF32P tagging were 51 per cent, 5.4 h, and 2.89 times 10-9 cells/kg/day. The discrepancy between these two tags persisted in doubly tagged cells and was considered to be due to elution of DF32P.