Neuromediated Myeloperoxidase Deficiency

Sir.—In the March 1925 issue of AJDC, Sato¹ reported changes in the blood myeloid leukocytes, resulting from injuries to certain parts of the brain produced experimentally in animals. Only those rabbits that had received bilateral thermocautery lesions of the corpora striata showed a myeloperoxidase (MPO)–negative reaction of neutrophils in fresh blood smear stained by the copper method of Sato and Sekiya.² A similar blood picture of transitory acquired MPO deficiency was described by Sato and Yoshimatsu² in patients with acute lethargic encephalitis. These anecdotal observations² were reported prior to the demonstration of an important immunologic role of this enzyme in the antimicrobial defense mechanism and the neural modulation of cellular immunity.

The neutrophils contain at least three different forms of MPO that may have special roles in cellular function.³ The MPO–hydrogen peroxide–halide system is believed to represent, however, a major pathway for oxidative-dependent microbicidal