Abnormal migratory activity of peripheral neutrophils from asthmatic patients and its modulation by inhaled glucocorticoids.

In order to investigate if bronchial asthma is associated with enhanced markers of activation in peripheral neutrophils, the migratory capacity of neutrophils in venous blood was measured by means of the Boyden chamber technique in 29 subjects with bronchial asthma of differing severity. Random migration (random motility), but not locomotion toward 10% Escherichia coli supernatant as chemoattractant (chemotaxis), was increased in asthmatic subjects with respect to 11 normal subjects (98 +/- 20 microns vs. 85 +/- 6 microns; p < 0.05). When asthmatic subjects were subdivided into groups of different disease severity, subjects with mild and mild to moderate asthma showed significantly higher values for random motility and chemotaxis than normal subjects; on the other hand, subjects with more severe disease showed the lowest values for migratory activity. No correlation was found between migratory activity and clinical findings of asthma, except for baseline FEV1 (% of the predicted value), which showed a slight but significant positive correlation with chemotaxis (r = 0.44, p < 0.05). Subjects with atopic or occupational asthma had higher values for migratory activity than subjects with nonallergic asthma. Thirteen asthmatic subjects repeated all evaluations after 1 month of treatment with high doses of inhaled glucocorticoids (beclomethasone dipropionate 1500 micrograms/day). Random motility (95 +/- 24 microns vs. 75 +/- 15 microns; p < 0.05) and chemotaxis (130 +/- 22 microns vs. 105 +/- 25 microns; p < 0.05) were significantly reduced after treatment, as well as the symptom score; on the other hand, symptom score but not bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine challenge significantly changed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)