Fig. 1

Neutrophil phagocytic index in whole blood samples taken from patients with severe and mild/moderate severity community-acquired pneumonia (“ITU” and “ward” respectively), and respiratory outpatients with no acute inflammatory disease. Phagocytic index was calculated after 45 min incubation. Neutrophils were identified according to the expression of CD16. Neutrophil oxidation ratio (OR) was calculated as the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of the reporter fluorophore (FITC) divided by the MFI of the calibrator fluorophore (Pacific Blue). Neutrophil phagocytic index (PI) was calculated as the number of neutrophils associated with reporter beads divided the total neutrophil number multiplied by the OR. Each dot represents data collected from a single volunteer. Samples were incubated at 37 °C, with shaking, in the presence of either a a vehicle control, b PMA or c LPS. Comparisons were made using Kruskall–Wallis (3 groups) and Mann–Whitney U (2 groups) tests, as appropriate