St. Lillevang et al., EFFECT OF RADIOGRAPHIC CONTRAST-MEDIA ON GRANULOCYTE PHAGOCYTOSIS OF ESCHERICHIA-COLI IN A WHOLE-BLOOD FLOW CYTOMETRIC ASSAY, Investigative radiology, 29(1), 1994, pp. 68-71
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. Earlier studies have demonstrated an adverse
effect of radiographic contrast media (CM) on granulocyte phagocytosi
s. Most studies in the past have depended on granulocyte separative pr
ocedures that may themselves affect granulocyte functions. This study
was performed to evaluate the effect of CM on phagocytosis using a flo
w cytometric assay allowing more physiological assay conditions. METHO
DS. Twenty consecutive patients were blindly randomized to receive the
nonionic ratio 3.0 CM iohexol or the ionic ratio 3.0 CM ioxaglate for
intravenous urography. Granulocyte phagocytic potential was measured
before and at 1, 5, and 20 minutes after CM administration with a flow
cytometric whole blood method evaluating the ingestion of complement-
and immunoglobulin G (IgG)-opsonized fluorescent Escherichia Coli bac
teria. RESULTS. The ability of granulocytes to phagocytize opsonized E
. Coli was adversely affected by both CM used. Compared with baseline
values, significantly decreased phagocytic activity was observed for i
ohexol at 1, 5, and 20 minutes and for ioxaglate at 1 and 5 minutes. T
he largest decrease with ioxaglate was from 85.3 +/- 10.5 to 69.3 +/-
16.3 (5 minutes), and the largest change with iohexol was from 87.1 +/
- 8.5 to 74.5 +/- 15.9 (5 minutes). CONCLUSIONS. These results confirm
earlier reports that ionic and nonionic CM adversely affect the phago
cytic ability of granulocytes after intravenous administration.