Leucocyte mobilization to skin lesions.

Leucocyte mobilization to a chamber covering a skin lesion was studies in healthy volunteers. 111 Indium-labelled blood leucocytes accumulated in the chambers, indicating mobilization of leucocytes from the blood. The concentration of autologous serum in the chamber medium influenced the number of leucocytes mobilized, while heat inactivation of serum or the repeated use of the same serum had no effect on the counts. The use of zymosan-treated serum increased the mobilization by up to 53%. The kinetics for the mobilization of leucocytes to chambers containing autologous serum was followed in healthy subjects. The mobilization showed a uniform pattern, viz. a lag phase of 2--4 hours and maximal migration rates after 20--24 hours. The cumulated counts were 74 x 10(6) leucocytes/cm2/24 hours and 200 x 10(6) leucocytes/cm2/48 hours. Females and males exhibited the same kinetics and cumulated counts. Chamber leucocytes were predominantly neutrophil granulocytes (85--100%) with 2.9--3.6 nuclear segments. The chamber technique provides a simple method permitting quantitation of in vivo mobilization of leucocytes from the blood to an inflammatory lesion.