Flow cytometric analysis of defensins in blood and marrow neutrophils

Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) are vital in host defense against microbial infections. This study provides a flow cytometric method for the quantitative analysis of microbicidal peptides (defensins) in cells of PMN lineage. Rabbit neutrophil peptides, NP-2 and NP-5, were measured in all PMN and in subpopulations of PMN expressing 1-selectin. PMN lineage counts were made on Wright's-stained blood smears and marrow cytospins. Immunoreactivity for NP-2, and NP-5 was detected by using the alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase technique. The results show that marrow PMN express higher levels of NP-2 and NP-5 than blood PMN, p < 0.001 and that these levels are associated with elevated numbers of myeloid precursors. In both blood and marrow, NP-2 occurs in two PMN subpopulations and the mean fluorescence intensity of NP-2 is consistently higher than that of NP-5. Increased levels of defensins are observed in circulating PMN depicting the most 1-selectin p < 0.05. Immunocytochemical results indicate that PMN defensins reside in cytoplasmic granules and are not constitutively expressed on the cell surface. Furthermore, defensins are not detected in monocytes, eosinophils, lymphocytes and erythrocytes. The flow cytometric method described here provides a novel means of quantitating host natural defenses, allows the characterization of PMN subpopulations and has clinical applications.