Review paper

Application of neutrophils chemiluminescence test in medical diagnostics

Presented work contains basic informations describing „luminescence” of cells which due to the use of luminophores is called chemiluminescence (CL). In the first part of the paper the author reviews the literature on environment in which the luminescence of neutrophiles occurs and briefly describes redox reactions within neutrophils which are called „oxidative burst”. The second part of the paper reviews the literature on neutrophils’ CL in selected diseases. The article contains informations on the first researchers in the field of luminescence dating from 1961 – Tarusow et al. – through the group of Italians (Colli, Facchini) to contemporary scientists as R. Allen, P. Stevens and K. van Dyke. Their research on the cellular luminescence contributed to the practical use of chemiluminescence test in clinical diagnostics (mostly in chronic granulomatous disease). The author cites the observations of others and her own on the usefulness of neutrophils’ CL test in the prognosis of duration and the prediction of complications in the course of severe infections: bacterial, parasitic and AIDS. The paper contains data on neutrophils’ CL in selected neoplastic diseases and the diseases of the respiratory system (including bronchial asthma and sarcoidosis). Various reports on free oxygen radicals in the pathology of the urinary tract and circulatory system are cited, where neutrophiles CL test allows to observe the severity of the process and the effects of the treatment. The work contains also informations about the metabolic potency of neutrophils in the course of certain self-aggressive disorders of the liver and during some surgical procedures.