Nitroblue-tetrazolium test for the functional evaluation of phagocytic cells: a critical analysis of the methodology.

The reduction of NBT to formazan has been suggested as an indicator of the reduction potential of biological systems. An increase in the amount of reduced formazan reflects the activation of the hexose monophosphate shunt of phagocytes cultivated in vitro, as a result of cellular stimulation by chemical or biological factors, or during phagocytosis. This phenomenon has been widely used for the determination of activated phagocytes by different methods. However, the technical limitations of these methods have not been evaluated carefully. In the investigations presented here three solvents for formazan, pyridine, dioxane and dimethyl-formamide, have been tested for their suitability as extra…