Leukotactic Dysfunction in Sarcoidosis

Abstract

The leukotactic function of patients with sarcoidosis was studied. A defect was found in 19 of the 20 patients tested and was due to moderately elevated serum levels of the chemotactic factor inactivator. The chemotactic factor inactivator levels were not as high as those previously reported in patients with Hodgkin's disease or cirrhosis of the liver. The effect of the inactivator was irreversible and was directed toward all three of the chemotactic factors tested. The physicochemical characteristics of chemotactic factor inactivator in serum from sarcoid patients resembled in most respects the features of chemotactic factor inactivator in normal serum. As expected, the generation of chemotactic activity in some sarcoid serums by zymosan was impaired. The results of this study may relate to some of the reported defects in expression of cellular immunity in sarcoid patients.