Enhanced bactericidal activity of phagocytes from patients with chronic granulomatous disease in the presence of sulphisoxazole.

The decrease in the frequency and severity of bacterial infections in four of five children with chronic granulomatous disease (C.G.D.) on long-term sulphonamide therapy was out of proportion to demonstrable direct antibacterial effects of the drug. In an attempt to determine the mechanism for this apparent protective effect, the killing of sulphisoxazole-resistant Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by leucocytes from five patients with C.G.D. was studied in the presence or absence of 5-50 mug. per ml. sulphisoxazole. With leucocytes from all five patients there was a modest but reproducible enhancement of bactericidal activity in the presence of the sulphonamide. Studies of phagocytosis-associated oxidative metabolism in patients' cell have not revealed a metabolic basis for improved killing.