Diminished actin polymerization of neonatal neutrophils determined by a microvolume whole blood method.

To investigate the actin response to chemotactic stimulation of neonatal neutrophils, we developed a new procedure to measure neutrophil F-actin content directly in microvolume whole blood (100 microliters sample each test). Using this procedure, we compared neutrophil actin response to N-formyl-methyonyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) between groups of normal neonate and adult volunteers. Relative F-actin content (FMLP/control ratio) of neonatal neutrophils is significantly lower than those of adult volunteers' neutrophils both at 30 sec (1.94 +/- 0.34 vs. 2.25 +/- 0.31; n = 16, p < 0.05, t test) and 60 sec (2.23 +/- 0.19 vs. 2.40 +/- 0.27; n = 16, p < 0.05, t test) after FMLP stimulation. These results provide new evidence of impairment of neutrophil actin response in the neonate, which may partially explain the observed chemotactic defect in neonatal neutrophils.