Reactive oxygen species of neutrophils from patients with monosomy 7 in the bone marrow: Contradictory chemiluminescence activity by whole blood or by purified cells

Monosomy 7, a deletion of the long arm of chromosome 7, was shown in the neutrophils of peripheral blood in 5 of 6 patients with a myelodysplastic syndrome or leukemia who had monosomy 7 in their bone marrow cells. In a chemiluminescence assay the production of reactive oxygen species by neutrophils from patients was increased in whole blood and decreased in purified cells, which suggests that neutrophils with monosomy 7 tolerate poorly the cell purification procedures used. The in vitro migration of purified neutrophils obtained from patients with monosomy 7 was impaired. It is known that patients with monosomy 7 have an increased susceptibility to infections. It is possible that neutrophils with monosomy 7 are too easily triggered to a full-scale respiratory burst and thereby the cells exhaust their ability to eliminate invading microbes efficiently.