Evaluation of Phagocytic Function of Peripheral Neutrophils in Bronchial Asthma

Abstract

Background: Bronchial asthma is a serious inflammatory disorder affecting a major group of children and adults, especially in environmentally vulnerable population. The management of asthma requires exploring the possible cause, understanding plausible mechanisms, alleviating the allergens although permanent cure is not assured. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate the phagocytic function, an indicator of the inflammatory response in asthmatic subjects. Materials & Methods: This study was carried out among 30 asthmatics and 30 normal healthy adults in the outpatient clinic of a tertiary care hospital. Spirometric measurements were used to diagnose and grade asthma. Blood samples were taken to estimate the total count and differential counts. Candida uptake and NBT reduction were considered as markers of phagocytic activity in neutrophils. Results: In asthma subjects, lowered phagocytic index (16.23 ± 5.43 vs 41.87 ± 4.78) and NBT reduction (8.67 ± 2.25 vs 29.7 ± 4.57) were observed indicating phagocytic dysfunction. However, the phagocytic dysfunction of neutrophils was not found to be related to severity of the disease. Conclusion: This study in asthmatics has revealed that there is dysfunction of phagocytic indices in asthmatics when compared with healthy volunteers. Smoking, positive history of atopy and use of biomass fuel had a reasonable impact on deterioration of phagocytic function in asthmatics. However, severity of the disease did not show any correlation with the phagocytic function.

Keywords

• asthma
• neutrophils
• phagocytosis
• spirometry
• smoking