[Function of neonatal neutrophilic granulocytes].

Phagocytic leukocytes especially neutrophils form an essential part of human host defense against infection by invading microorganisms. The principal activities exhibited by circulating neutrophils in response to inflammation include adherence to vascular endothelium, chemotaxis, phagocytosis and microbial killing. As reviewed in this article, each of these aspects of cell function has been studied in neutrophils of newborn and preterm infants. The most consistent finding has been abnormal chemotaxis. Whether the newborn infant who suffers from an increased susceptibility to serious infections is actually predisposed to infection because of deficiencies in neutrophil function remains questionable. It seems likely that subnormal phagocyte function combined with other defects in host defense such as deficient complement and opsonizing activity in neonatal sera could predispose the newborn infant to bacterial infections that rapidly become systemic.