Microbicidal Activity of Peroxidaseless Chicken Heterophile Leukocytes

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) of the domestic chicken lack myeloperoxidase and, therefore, may be useful for studies of myeloperoxidase-independent antimicrobial mechanisms. Before such studies were undertaken, it was important to investigate the antimicrobial capacity of these cells against species of opportunistic pathogens that cause infection in humans with defective PMN function. In vitro, chicken PMN, like normal human PMN, readily phagocytized and killed Staphylococcus albus. They also killed Serratia marcescens, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans. Cytochemical methods confirmed the absence of myeloperoxidase from chicken PMN.