Peroxidase activity in peritoneal neutrophils of patients with terminal renal failure treated by intermittent peritoneal dialysis.

Peroxidase activity was assessed cytochemically in the peritoneal dialysate neutrophils of 50 patients with terminal renal failure treated by intermittent peritoneal dialysis. In 22 patients cells were harvested for the second time after they developed peritonitis as a complication of the treatment. The results obtained were compared with those in the control group consisting of 30 patients with normal renal function. The patients treated by peritoneal dialysis showed both in the complication-free period and in the course of peritonitis significantly higher peroxidase activity in the neutrophils, as revealed by the semiquantitative score test. In the course of peritonitis, the neutrophils peroxidase activity was significantly lower than in the complication-free period.