Oxygen-Dependent Microbial Killing by Phagocytes

Abstract

(Second of Two Parts)Inherited Abnormalities of the Oxygen-Dependent Killing Mechanisms of PhagocytesStudies over the past 15 years have disclosed a number of inherited conditions in which there is a deficiency in one or another of the enzymes involved in the oxidative killing mechanisms of phagocytes (Table 1). Some of these conditions are characterized by a marked impairment in host defense against bacterial infection, whereas others are clinically benign.Chronic Granulomatous DiseaseThe first such condition to be discovered,¹⁰⁰ and certainly the most extensively studied, is the condition known as chronic granulomatous disease. Defined as a clinical entity in . . .