Granulocyte chemotaxis in Crohn's disease.

The granulocyte chemotaxis was investigated in patients with Crohn's disease on different occasions while in various stages of disease activity. Both the directed and undirected granulocyte migrations were found to be significantly depressed (p less than or equal to 0.01) when patients were in active disease states. The observed reductions were not due to intrinsic cell defects, as improved cell reactivity could be induced by a cell washing procedure. Plasma inhibitors of migration were not found in a selected few cases studied. As the patients improved in clinical status, the granulocyte migration returned to normal levels, demonstrating a direct relationship between the granulocyte migration response and the degree of disease activity.