Microtubules in neutrophils of patients with Behçet's disease.

With an electron microscope, we examined the peripheral blood neutrophils of 6 patients with Behçet's disease at the exacerbation stage and those of 3 healthy controls. We counted the number of microtubules on enlarged electron micrographs of the neutrophils. Each electron micrograph was photographed at a direct magnification of 15,000, so that at least one centriole was contained in the photograph. It was enlarged twice the size of the negative and printed. The average number of microtubules in the neutrophils of the 6 patients with Behçet's disease was 4.96 +/- 2.76 (SD). It was 2.36 +/- 1.88 in the neutrophils of the 3 control subjects. This difference was statistically highly significant (P less than 0.0005). These results suggest that microtubules may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of Behçet's disease.