OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the in vivo effects of heat-sterilized peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluids on the respiratory burst response of rat peritoneal leukocytes. DESIGN: Rats were exposed to intraperitoneal injections of a laboratory-made PD fluid that was either heat-sterilized (H-PD) or filtered (F-PD). Control groups of animals were given Hank's buffer (HBSS) or saline (NaCl). Leukocytes were harvested by intraperitoneal lavage at different times in different animals and analyzed with respect to cell numbers, differential counts, and production of superoxide (chemiluminescence) in response to opsonized zymosan. The chemiluminescence responses of the macrophage and the neutrophil populations, respectively, were obtained by curve-fitting techniques from the responses of the mixed populations. RESULTS: All fluids induced a recruitment of neutrophils, the PD fluids causing a cell number increase that was more transient than that caused by NaCl and HBSS. Macrophage numbers were only slightly influenced, but were generally higher after NaCl and HBSS injections than after PD fluid injections. The H-PD exposure induced a significant inhibition of the macrophage chemiluminescence response after 2 and 12 hours, compared with the exposure to F-PD. The neutrophil chemiluminescence response was not significantly affected. CONCLUSION: The toxins produced by heat-sterilization of glucose-containing PD fluids inhibit in vivo the respiratory burst response of peritoneal macrophages.

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