Oxygen-Dependent Microbial Killing by Phagocytes

Inherited Abnormalities of the Oxygen-Dependent Killing Mechanisms of PhagocytesStudies over the past 15 years have disclosed a number of inherited conditions in which there is a deficiency in one or another of the enzymes involved in the oxidative killing mechanisms of phagocytes (Table 1). Some of these conditions are characterized by a marked impairment in host defense against bacterial infection, whereas others are clinically benign.Chronic Granulomatous DiseaseThe first such condition to be discovered,100 and certainly the most extensively studied, is the condition known as chronic granulomatous disease. Defined as a clinical entity in . . .