Paediatric Department, Medical School & University Hospital, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.
BMC Pediatr. 2011 Apr 14;11:29. doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-11-29.
Infections by a variety of pathogens are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality during perinatal period. The susceptibility of neonates to bacterial infections has been attributed to immaturity of innate immunity. It is considered that one of the impaired mechanisms is the phagocytic function of neutrophils and monocytes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the phagocytic ability of neonates at birth.
The phagocytic ability of neutrophils and monocytes of 42 neonates was determined using the Phagotest flow cytometry method, that assesses the intake of E. Coli by phagocytes, in cord blood and in peripheral blood 3 days after birth. Fifteen healthy adults were included in the study as controls.
The phagocytic ability of neutrophils in the cord blood of neonates was significantly reduced compared to adults. The 3rd postnatal day the reduction of phagocytic ability of neutrophils was no longer significant compared to adults. The phagocytic ability of monocytes did not show any difference from that of adults either at birth or the 3rd postnatal day.
Our findings indicate that the intake of E. Coli by phagocytes is impaired at birth in both preterm and full term neonates compared to adults. This defect is transient, with the phagocytic ability in neonates reaching that of the adults 3 days after birth.
在围生期，各种病原体感染是发病率和死亡率的重要原因。新生儿易受细菌感染与其先天免疫不成熟有关。据认为，受损机制之一是中性粒细胞和单核细胞的吞噬功能。本研究旨在探讨新生儿出生时的吞噬能力。
采用 Phagotest 流式细胞术方法检测 42 例新生儿脐带血和出生后 3 天外周血中性粒细胞和单核细胞的吞噬能力，该方法评估吞噬细胞摄取大肠杆菌的能力。15 名健康成年人作为对照组纳入研究。
与成人相比，新生儿脐带血中性粒细胞的吞噬能力显著降低。与成人相比，出生后第 3 天中性粒细胞吞噬能力的降低不再显著。出生时和第 3 天，单核细胞的吞噬能力与成人相比没有差异。
我们的研究结果表明，与成人相比，无论是早产儿还是足月儿，出生时吞噬细胞摄取大肠杆菌的能力受损。这种缺陷是短暂的，新生儿的吞噬能力在出生后 3 天达到成人水平。
