Effect of glucocorticosteroids on the phagocytosis and intracellular killing by peritoneal macrophages.

The effect of hydrocortisone on the phagocytosis and intracellular killing by mouse peritoneal macrophages in vitro was studied by a method making it possible to measure these processes separately. The results showed that in vivo treatment with 15 mg of hydrocortisone acetate did not significantly decrease the phagocytosis of several bacterial species such as Staphylococcus albus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The killing indexes of normal macrophages for the various microorganisms were found to be significantly different. This may indicate that the bactericidal mechanisms are not uniform for these bacteria. The effect of hydrocortisone on the intracellular killing was also variable. For Staphylococcus albus a normal killing index was found. For the other species of bacterial and for Candida albicans some decrease was found, but this was only significant for Salmonella typhimurium. It is concluded that a decrease host resistance due to glucocorticosterioid treatment is not caused by a direct effect of these drugs on the phagocytosis and intracellular killing by mononuclear phagocytes.