458 LEUCOCYTE LOCOMOTION IN PATIENTS WITH TURNER'S SYNDROME

Leucocyte locomotion abnormalities have been found in chromosomopathies such as Down's, Cri-du-chat and Edwards syndromes, in all of which a variable increase in susceptibility to infections has been described as well. We evaluated the peripheral blood leucocyte (polymorphonuclear (PMN) and monocyte (MP)) locomotion (random mobility, chemokinesis and chemotaxis) in 13 infection-free patients with Turner's syndrome and compared it to that of 10 age-matched healthy girls. Leucocytes were obtained by density gradient centrifugation and the three locomotion varieties were assayed using double-filtered Boyden chambers and zymosan activated serum as attractant. Random mobility, chemokinesis and chemotaxis of MP from patients with Turner's syndrome were comparable to those of controls. So were random mobility and chemokinesis of PMN. Chemotaxis of PMN from patients with Turner's syndrome was significantly (p <; 0.002) diminished (57 ± 19 PMN/hpf, mean ± SEM) when compared to controls (93 ± 56 PMN/hpf). These results suggest an intrinsic PMN chemotactic defect in patients with Turner's syndrome that does not translate into an increase in the susceptibility to infections.