Effects of radiographic contrast media on leukocyte locomotion.

It has been shown that radiographic contrast media activate the complement system and release C3A and C5A, which, among other things, are chemotactic factors; ie, they increase the locomotion of leukocytes. The authors have examined the effects of contrast media on plasma, serum, neutrophilic (polymorphonuclear) leukocytes, and several standard chemoattractant proteins using modified Boyden chambers and micropore filters. Contrary to the results of others, which showed that contrast media increased the locomotion of neutrophils toward standard chemoattractants, the authors have shown that contrast media uniformly reduced neutrophil locomotion towards chemoattractant proteins by a combined effect on the proteins and on the neutrophils themselves. The exact inter-relationship between reduction in neutrophil locomotion and any possible adverse effects of radiographic contrast media remains to be clarified.