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The Phagocytosis of Blood Leukocytes from Cystic Fibrosis Patients is not Impaired in General

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Abstract

Impaired phagocytosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found in isolated monocytes of peripheral blood of cystic fibrosis patients, but not in their neutrophils, as reported some years ago. In the present study, we analysed the phagocytic capacity of peripheral blood neutrophils and monocytes of cystic fibrosis patients and of healthy controls. Phagocytosis was determined using a commercial phagocytosis “in whole blood” assay on the basis of fluorescence-labelled opsonized Escherichia coli bacteria and flow cytometry. Venous blood of cystic fibrosis patients and of healthy controls was collected and the phagocytosis assay was performed. No differences in the percentage of phagocytic cells or in the overall phagocytic capacity were found between samples of cystic fibrosis patients and healthy controls either in monocytes or in neutrophils. Thus, our results did not support the hypothesis of a generally reduced phagocytic ability in the peripheral blood immune cells of cystic fibrosis patients.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Abbreviations

CRP:

C-reactive protein

Vs.:

Versus

E. coli :

Escherichia coli

CFTR:

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator

MFI:

Mean fluorescence intensity

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank Ms Andrea Rabung for technical help.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Saarland University, Campus Homburg, Kirrberger Strasse, Building 61, 66424, Homburg/Saar, Germany

    Laura Leuer, Carola Meier & Thomas Tschernig

  2. Clinic for Pulmonology, Saarland University, Campus Homburg, Homburg/Saar, Germany

    Angelika Krill, Heinrike Wilkens & Robert Bals

  3. Institute for Medical Biometry, Saarland University, Campus Homburg, Homburg/Saar, Germany

    Gudrun Wagenpfeil

  4. Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Saarland University, Campus Homburg, Homburg/Saar, Germany

    Markus Bischoff

Authors
  1. Laura Leuer
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  2. Angelika Krill
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  3. Heinrike Wilkens
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  4. Gudrun Wagenpfeil
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  5. Markus Bischoff
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  6. Carola Meier
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  7. Robert Bals
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  8. Thomas Tschernig
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Contributions

HW, RB and TT conducted the study. AK, GW, CM and MB were involved in writing and statistical work. LL collected the blood samples, performed the assay and wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Tschernig.

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Authors declare that they have no disclosures.

Ethical Statement

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of regional ethics committee (proposal 241/16) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Leuer, L., Krill, A., Wilkens, H. et al. The Phagocytosis of Blood Leukocytes from Cystic Fibrosis Patients is not Impaired in General. Lung 198, 235–239 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-019-00290-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-019-00290-9

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