A modified spectrophotometric test for nitroblue-tetrazolium reduction of granulocytes and monocytes and its application for testing inhibition of monocytes by serum components in tumor patients.

For evaluation of serum-factor involvement in monocyte function, we established a modified quantitative spectrophotometric-nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) test. We investigated the stimulation of human peripheral monocytes and granulocytes by zymosan, endotoxin, and Corynebacterium parvum in vitro. In addition, polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) function in a patient with non-Hodgkin lymphoma was studied during the course of polychemotherapy and intravenous application of Corynebacterium parvum (C. parvum). In non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 15) and bronchogenic carcinoma (n = 11) the NBT-reduction of autologous monocytes in presence of autologous serum in relation to a AB serum was decreased compared to a control group of age-matched healthy blood donors. The sera from patients with these neoplasms inhibited NBT-reduction of monocytes from healthy donors. This inhibition showed a correlation to the presence of immune complexes in patients with bronchogenic carcinoma.