Enhanced resistance against Listeria monocytogenes achieved by pretreatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor

Phagocytosis, H202 production, Mac-i expression, and in vivo elimination of Listeria monocytogenes were enhanced in granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-treated mice. Transfer of polymorphonuclear leukocytes prolonged survival of mice infected with a lethal dose of L. monocytogenes. G-CSF augments the functions of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and thus plays a role in protection. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) appears to act primarily on precursor cells committed to the granulo-cyte lineage to induce granulocytosis in vivo. Moreover, G-CSF has an enhancing effect on functional activities of granulocytes such as chemotaxis, phagocytosis, production of active oxygen, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (1, 6, 11, 25, 28). Polymorphonuclear leuko-cytes (PMNs) of the granulocyte lineage and macrophages act not only as primitive scavenger cells in the early phase of infection (3) but also as final effector cells activated by T-lymphocyte-derived lymphokines (18). Macrophages hav