NEUTROPHIL ACTIVATION AND THE ROLE OF INTERLEUKIN-8 AND RELATED CYTOKINES

Neutrophils are usually the first blood cells to enter inflammatory lesions. They accumulate in high numbers, and perform defence functions that often lead to tissue damage as a consequence of release of lytic enzymes and oxygen-derived radicals. Like other leukocytes, the circulating neutrophils are in a resting state and are recruited into inflamed tissues by chemotactic stimuli. Several types of chemotactic agonists are known. Their formation in the tissues depends on the type of inflammatory injury. A single type of agonist may act initially, but the recruitment process usually depends on several agonists, which can act in concert since they bind to distinct receptors. Once the neutrophils have migrated into a diseased tissue, phagocytosis usually concurs in the triggering of product release.