%0 Journal Article
%T Phagocytic ability of neutrophils and monocytes in neonates
%A Athanasios Filias
%A Georgios L Theodorou
%A Sofia Mouzopoulou
%A Anastasia A Varvarigou
%A Stephanos Mantagos
%A Marina Karakantza
%J BMC Pediatrics
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2431-11-29
%X The phagocytic ability of neutrophils and monocytes of 42 neonates was determined using the Phagotest flow cytometry method, that assesses the intake of E. Coli by phagocytes, in cord blood and in peripheral blood 3 days after birth. Fifteen healthy adults were included in the study as controls.The phagocytic ability of neutrophils in the cord blood of neonates was significantly reduced compared to adults. The 3rd postnatal day the reduction of phagocytic ability of neutrophils was no longer significant compared to adults. The phagocytic ability of monocytes did not show any difference from that of adults either at birth or the 3rd postnatal day.Our findings indicate that the intake of E. Coli by phagocytes is impaired at birth in both preterm and full term neonates compared to adults. This defect is transient, with the phagocytic ability in neonates reaching that of the adults 3 days after birth.Infections by a variety of pathogens are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality during perinatal period. The incidence of early-onset sepsis in full term neonates is 0.1% while in premature ones is as high as 0.4% [1]. In a prospective study in seven Australian Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), Isaacs et al [2] reported an annual incidence of sepsis of 6.6 per 1000 live births, of which 75% were of late onset. Overall hospital mortality for sepsis was 10% [2]. In a cohort of 54 UK neonatal units in 1998, 204 (5%) of 3,963 consecutive admissions had a positive blood culture [3]. In a North American cohort, mortality in very low birth weight infants with septicemia was 21% [4]. The increased susceptibility of neonates to bacterial infections has been attributed to immaturity of innate immunity.The phagocyte system is an essential component of innate immunity, where specialized phagocytes (macrophages, monocytes and neutrophils) perform various host defense functions that rely on the phagocytic uptake of pathogens. A number of factors contribute to the efficient f
%K Cord blood
%K Escherichia Coli
%K Monocytes
%K Neonate
%K Neutrophils
%K Phagocytosis
%K Phagocytic ability
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/11/29