Failure of Pretreatment with Glucocorticoids to Modify the Phagocytic and Bactericidal Capacity of Human Leukocytes for Encapsulated Type I Pneumococcus

Abstract

Allison, Fred, Jr . (University Medical Center, Jackson, Miss.), and Martha H. Adcock . Failure of pretreatment with glucocorticoids to modify the phagocytic and bactericidal capacity of human leukocytes for encapsulated type I pneumococcus. J. Bacteriol. 89: 1256–1261. 1965.—The influence of glucocorticoid administration for 4 days upon the bactericidal and phagocytic functions of leukocytes recovered from venous blood of healthy human beings was evaluated within an in vitro system that contained fully virulent, type I pneumococcus. Ingestion of pneumococcus by granulocytes spread upon a suitable surface, followed by thin slide cultures of the preparation, permitted precise quantitation of cellular phagocytic functions. It was found that granulocytes from healthy donors subjected to short-term glucocorticoid treatment ingested and killed pneumococcus as well as did cells obtained before therapy. Human leukocytes obtained after treatment with prednisolone functioned in a suspending medium of high ionic strength as well as did cells harvested before treatment, although the efficiency of both groups was significantly less than when manipulated in autologous serum.