[Investigation of impairment of neutrophil's phagocytosis and bactericidal function in rats with iron deficiency].

Studies were made to determine the neutrophil's phagocytosis and bactericidal function in three groups of rats (control, iron deficiency, and iron supplement). Results showed that there were significant differences in values of chemiluminescence (CL) among three groups. The values of peak CL and five minutes integrated CL were markedly decreased in neutrophils of iron-deficient rats, accounting for only 41% and 32% of the control's values respectively. These suggested that the activity of NADPH oxidase was decreased, and the function of respiratory burst of neutrophils was impaired. The activity of myeloperoxidase in the iron-deficient neutrophils was also significantly lower than that in the control cells. It constituted only 30% of the control's value, indicating that the bactericidal function of neutrophils was injured. One week after iron administration, the low values of the peak CL, the five minutes integrated CL and the activity of myeloperoxidase all went up apparently, but not reached the normal levels yet. The time the function of neutrophils in iron-deficient rats returned to normal may be related to the process of neutrophil maturation in bone marrow.