[Spontaneous nitroblue terazolium reduction test (NBT) by peripheral blood granulocytes in healthy subjects and in some hematologic syndromes].

The NBT reduction test and determination of alkaline phosphatase activity in the peripheral blood granulocytes (FAG) were done in 94 subjects including 30 blood donors donating blood for the first time and 64 cases of various haematological syndromes. Raised proportion of formazan granulocytes was found in patients with pancytopenia, acute myeloid leukaemia, chronic myeloid leukaemia during blastic exacerbation, Hodgkin's disease during exacerbation and lymphosarcoma. These results correlated with increased FAG activity. Lower proportions of formazan granulocytes capable of spontaneous reduction of NBT were found in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, in immunohaemolytic anaemias and in plasmocytoma. Of all the above syndromes only in chronic myeloid leukaemia impaired ability of formazan cell formation parallelled decreased FAG activity. In the remaining syndromes FAG activity in the granulocytes was normal or raised. In the remissions of Hodgkin's disease a fall was observed in the proportion of formazan granulocytes to values of FAG. In chronic myeloid leukaemia the proportion of formazan cells showed considerable fluctuations and no correlation was observed between the proportion of formazan cells and FAG activity.