Enhancement of local immune response in the treatment of experimental peritonitis.

We conclude from these experiments that the host defense in peritoneal infections rests largely on the phagocytic cells attracted into the peritoneal cavity by the offending organism, and that an increase in the number of available phagocytes by pretreatment with chemotactic substances protects against lethal peritoneal infections. There seems to be a direct relationship between the number of available phagocytes in the peritoneal cavity at the time of inoculation and the reduction of mortality in experimental peritonitis (Fig. 1).