This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (11)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Death March of the Phagocyte

Mark V. Dahl, MD

Arch Dermatol. 1979;115(12):1407-1408.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Chemotaxis is the locomotion of cells or organisms in response to substances in their environment. In dermatology, chemotaxis ordinarily refers to the directed migration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes to an infected or inflamed area. Detailed studies have been published.^1-6

A phagocytic cell, particularly a neutrophil or macrophage, is a major effector cell of the immune response. A number of immunologic events occur, but the actual killing of infectious organisms, engulfing of immune complexes, and other end-stage events are all performed by the phagocyte. To fill these functions, the phagocyte must first arrive at the site of inflammation or infection. Chemotaxis is the process that guides the phagocyte from the blood vessels to this site.

A major problem is the lack of totally reliable and reproducible methodology for measuring chemotaxis, both in vivo and in vitro. In the in vivo Rebuck skin window technique, test substances are applied to abraded skin. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Minneapolis

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?