[Granulocyte turnover in advanced Hodgkin's disease].

In 30 adult patients with III and IV Hodgkin's disease the studies of granulocytic turnover were performed. Bone marrow storage pool was measured by hydrocortisone test. Total blood granulocyte pool was judged by the estimation of muramidase activity and serum unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity. The epinephrine test was used for the marginated granulocyte pool determination. The circulating granulocyte pool was calculated from the count of granulocytes in the samples of venous blood. The tissue mobilization of granulocytes was measured by Senn's et al. method. After hydrocortisone application the releasing of the mature granulocytes from the bone-marrow was significantly lower in patients with Hodgkin's disease than in controls. The circulating and marginated pools of granulocytes in Hodgkin's disease did not differ from the normal persons. The tissue migration of granulocytes was decreased in patients with Hodgkin's disease. It is concluded that these abnormalities of granulocytic turnover in advanced Hodgkin's disease may be considered to be an additional cause of the defence mechanism in this disease.