A radiometric assessment of phagocytosis and intracellular killing by blood polymorphonuclear leucocytes in rheumatoid arthritis.

Disagreement persists about the phagocytic function of blood polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Many of the experimental data have been generated by subjective methods of assessment. Using a radiometric assay, we found no difference in the phagocytosis and intracellular killing of Candida albicans by blood PMN from 18 patients with RA when compared with PMN from 21 healthy control subjects. We infer that the increased incidence of non-articular infection reported in RA is not related to impaired phagocytic function of blood PMN.