Luminol-dependent chemiluminiscence of monocytes and granulocytes in multiple sclerosis: the effect of autologous thrombocytes.

The luminol-dependent chemiluminiscence of monocytes and granulocytes and the effect of autologous thrombocytes upon the chemiluminiscence activity were investigated in multiple sclerosis patients, patients with other neurological diseases and healthy controls. The spontaneous monocyte chemiluminiscence was found to be significantly higher in multiple sclerosis patients than in healthy controls. However, no differences were found between multiple sclerosis patients and the group of other neurological diseases. Addition of autologous thrombocytes did not substantially alter both the spontaneous and the zymozan-stimulated monocyte chemiluminiscence. No significant differences in granulocyte spontaneous and stimulated chemiluminiscence were found between the multiple sclerosis patients and both control groups. In all multiple sclerosis patients the addition of autologous thrombocytes markedly depressed the spontaneous and stimulated granulocyte chemiluminiscence and a similar effect was observed in most of the patients with other neurological diseases. In healthy controls, the effect of autologous thrombocytes was rather more heterogenous and both a thrombocyte-dependent increase and a decrease of the granulocyte chemiluminiscence were found. The results suggest that platelets are able to suppress the granulocyte oxidative burst and that this scavenger mechanism can be activated in multiple sclerosis and some other neurological diseases.