Influence of plasma factors and drugs on in vitro leukocyte adhesiveness.

Leukocyte adhesiveness was studied by measuring the retention of leukocytes in glass bead columns after the passage of heparinized whole blood or leukocyte suspensions. Leukocytes adhered readily to glass beads and independently of divalent cations when proteins were absent. Addition of plasma inhibited leukocyte adherence which became increasingly dependent on divalent cations. In conflict with results reported from nylon wool column experiments, we could not demonstrate a leukocyte adherence augmenting effect of zymosan activated plasma or plasma from patients with inflammatory diseases or patients undergoing hemodialysis. Ethanol and lidocaine gave a dose response inhibition of leukocyte adherence. The conflicting results obtained with the nylon wool and the glass head column techniques in conditions with "augmented adherence" may be due to retention of leukocyte aggregates in the nylon wool columns.