Rhinitis, pneumonia, and defective neutrophil function in the Doberman pinscher.

Eight closely related Doberman Pinschers with chronic rhinitis and pneumonia had normal or increased numbers of structurally normal leukocytes. Serum concentrations of immunoglobulins and complement were above or within normal ranges. Lymphocyte transformation indices for 3 mitogens were normal in 7 of the 8 dogs; the remaining dog had low values for all mitogens. Neutrophils phagocytized bacteria normally, but had impaired bactericidal ability. The bactericidal defect may have been related to the inability of neutrophils to generate normal numbers of oxygen radicals after stimulation, as determined by decreased ability of neutrophils to reduce nitroblue tetrazolium and to produce superoxide following opsonized zymosan stimulation. These observations, plus finding chronic inflammatory disease in the lungs of one dog, indicated that the disease may have some similarity to chronic granulomatous disease or to complement receptor deficiency in man.