[Chemotactic activity of neutrophils to fMLP and IL-8 in patients with severe asthma with reversible and irreversible airflow obstruction and in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways in which many cell types play a role. Although the most important cells are eosinophils, there are suggestions that also neutrophils may play a role in asthma. The aim of the study was to measure and compare chemotactic activity of neutrophils in patients with severe asthma and with COPD. We examined 49 patients with severe asthma and 23 patients with COPD. The mean number of neutrophils in peripheral blood of 20 asthmatics with irreversible airflow obstruction was 3.96 x 10(6)/ml. The chemotactic activity of neutrophils to FMLP was 2.69 SEM +/- 0.4, to IL-8 in concentration 10-7 microg/ml - 1.64, SEM +/- 0.2, and to IL-8 in concentration 10-8 microg/ml - 1.17, SEM +/- 0.1. The mean number of neutrophils in 29 asthmatics with reversible airflow obstruction was 3.08 x 10(6)/ml. Their chemotactic activity to fMLP was 1.7, SEM +/- 0.1 to IL-8 in concentration 10-7 microg/ml - 1.51. SEM +/- 0.2, and to IL-8 in concentration 10-8 microg/ml - 1.08, SEM +/- 0.1. The mean number of neutrophils in COPD patients was 4.05 x 10(6)/ml and their chemotactic activity to FMLP was 1.9, SEM +/- 0.1 to IL-8 - 1.35, SEM +/- 0.1. All asthmatic patients were treated with inhaled corticosteroids and some of them with oral corticosteroids. Despite of that treatment the number of neutrophils isolated from patients with asthma with irreversible airflow obstruction was almost the same like in COPD patients and chemotactic activity of neutrophils in this group was the highest. We concluded that corticosteroids treatment did not diminished chemotactic activity of neutrophils isolated from patient suffering from asthma with irreversible airflow obstruction.