The molecular pathobiology of stored neutrophils

Abstract

The neutrophil is a short-lived cell because it has limited biosynthetic capacity to repair and maintain its component parts. Studies on neutrophil storage show generalized defects involving energy metabolism, phagocytosis, microbial killing, chemotaxis, membrane receptors, microtubules, microfilaments, and stimulus—response coupling. Some storage conditions are more detrimental to certain functions than others, e.g. cold induces a severe chemotactic defect. Thus, room temperature storage is preferable to refrigerated storage. For optimal storage, it is necessary to have sufficient glucose in the medium and to maintain an adequate pH. During storage, a dismantling of the functional integrity of the cell occurs with the most highly integrated functions being lost initially, while primitive functions are retained the longest. With minor exceptions, the generalized metabolic, structural, and functional defects noted in stored neutrophils are not peculiar to storage but most likely mirror the inexorable in vivo programmed senescence of the neutrophil.