Relationship between adherence, chemotaxis and the accumulation of rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes at an inflammatory site.

The effects of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent, indomethacin, a steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, dexamethasone and an antirheumatic agent, levamisole, on rat polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) adherence and migration were examined. Adherence was evaluated using nylon fiber columns and migration was studied in vitro using Boyden chambers In addition, the effects of these drugs on PMN accumulation in he carrageenan-injected pleural cavity was evaluated. PMNs removed from animals treated with indomethacin, 1 mg/kg p.o., had a significantly reduced adherence, and fewer cells accumulated at an inflammatory site. Cellular migration measured in vitro was unaffected. PMNs removed from animals treated with dexamethasone, 0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg p.o., had a significantly reduced adherence and fewer cells accumulated at an inflammatory site. Cell migration was not consistently affected. After treatment with levamisole, 5 and 25 mg/kg p.o., adherence and chemotaxis were reduced, whereas PMN accumulation was unaffected. These results demonstrate that no simple relationship exists between PMN adherence, chemotaxis and their accumulation at an inflammatory site. Neither a reduction in adherence nor migration, as measured in vitro with a Boyden chamber, was predictive of a change in inflammatory cell migration.