ACTIVATION OF NEUTROPHIL FUNCTION BY RECOMBINANT HUMAN GRANULOCYTE-COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR IMPROVES THE SURVIVAL OF RATS WITH PERITONITIS

We examined the effects of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimul ating factor (rhG-CSF) and cefmetazole sodium on survival, neutrophil count, and neutrophil function in rats with peritonitis produced by ce cal ligation and puncture, Rats with peritonitis received either rhG-C SF (50 or 100 mu g/kg) with or without cefmetazole (50 mg/kg) for 3 da ys, cefmetazole alone, or no treatment and mere evaluated as controls, The mortality rate of all treated rats was significantly lower than t hat of the untreated rats, The survival rate was 57.1% for the rats gi ven both rhG-CSF and cefmetazole, but there was no significant improve ment of survival as compared with cefmetazole therapy alone, Treatment with rhG-CSF at 100 mu g/kg caused the circulating neutrophil count t o increase significantly, The phagocytic activity for latex beads and neutrophil H2O2 production showed a greater enhancement by phorbol myr istate acetate (PMA) in the untreated rats, thus indicating that neutr ophils from treated rats were more activated, These findings show that rhG-CSF can improve survival and neutrophil function in rats with per itonitis, while combined therapy with cefmetazole was also found to be beneficial.