Neutrophil
A neutrophil is a short-lived, highly mobile granulocytic leukocyte of the innate immune system and one of the most abundant circulating white blood cells.
A neutrophil is a short-lived, highly mobile granulocytic leukocyte of the innate immune system and one of the most abundant circulating white blood cells. Neutrophils are generated in the bone marrow and rapidly recruited to sites of infection, tissue injury, and inflammation by chemotactic signals. Their major functions include phagocytosis, production of reactive oxygen species, release of antimicrobial granule proteins such as myeloperoxidase, secretion of inflammatory mediators, and formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). These activities help control microbial threats but can also amplify tissue injury and systemic inflammation when excessive or improperly regulated.
Neutrophils interact with monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, lymphocytes, and other immune and stromal populations. Their phenotype is shaped by the local microenvironment, including cytokines, hypoxia, tumor-derived signals, and tissue damage. Accordingly, neutrophils may contribute to antimicrobial defense, autoimmune and inflammatory disease, cardiovascular pathology, tumor progression or therapy resistance, and tissue repair. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is also used as a broad hematologic indicator of systemic inflammatory state, although its interpretation is context-dependent.
The recent literature represented here falls under neutrophil-linked disease biology. It spans cancer, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular comorbidity, psoriasis, traumatic brain injury, immunotherapy-associated toxicity, coronary intervention, and spinal cord injury. These studies emphasize functional heterogeneity rather than a single universal neutrophil behavior, identifying phenotypes associated with immunosuppression, hypoxia, metabolic remodeling, tissue injury, or potential therapeutic delivery.
Rebuilt from PubMed 10 Sept 2026 · no new papers today
Where the papers sit
9 papers study neutrophil directly. Those 9 do not group into themes. Neutrophil activation, maturity, hypoxia, immune suppression and tissue repair recur across cancer, kidney disease, psoriasis, cardiovascular intervention and nervous-system injury. No shared mechanism or research direction emerges. They are no more alike than papers drawn from anywhere in the corpus. 2 new directions follow.
In aged traumatic brain injury, a neutrophil subpopulation is neuroprotective rather than injurious
Aged traumatic brain injury was assumed to involve neutrophils chiefly as contributors to secondary neuroinflammation, but this study identified skull bone marrow-derived IL-10+VEGF-α+ neutrophils associated with reduced inflammation and oxidative stress, angiogenesis, tissue remodeling, and better neurological outcomes. This changes the role of neutrophils in the injury model from uniformly damaging effectors to a potentially reparative, age-dependent population 42150286May.
In breast cancer, neutrophils can serve as stable, site-directed therapeutic drug carriers
Breast cancer models were approached with neutrophils as inflammatory cells to be manipulated, but this study used biomimetic trident lipid anchoring to retain drug payloads on neutrophil surfaces and exploit their migration toward tumor vasculature for localized anti-angiogenic and antitumor delivery. This introduces neutrophils as engineered therapeutic transporters rather than disease biomarkers or pathogenic effectors 41942056Apr.
Recent Findings on neutrophil
In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a multicenter, multicohort investigation integrated spatial transcriptomics, single-cell RNA sequencing, T-cell receptor repertoire sequencing, bulk RNA transcriptomics, phosphorylated-protein profiling, genomic mutation data, and clinical information to assess the therapeutic and prognostic relevance of HIF1A-positive, CSF3R-positive neutrophils in patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy. The study specifically examined whether this neutrophil population was associated with a hypoxic niche, metabolic reprogramming, and resistance to neoadjuvant treatment 42711068Sep.
In high-grade serous ovarian cancer, a study identified a distinct population of VISTA-positive neutrophils that was enriched in platinum-resistant tumors. The work investigated their contribution to platinum resistance and their capacity to suppress CD8-positive T cells, linking neutrophils with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and impaired antitumor lymphocyte activity 42390478Jul.
In men with chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular comorbidity, investigators characterized neutrophil phenotype in relation to cardiovascular disease. The study focused on an immature neutrophil phenotype and enhanced myeloperoxidase, reflecting interest in neutrophil-derived proteins and activation states as contributors to cardiovascular pathology 42613304Aug.
A mouse study of imiquimod-induced psoriasis evaluated neutrophils together with mast cells and T helper 17 cells in lesional skin and spleen. Immunofluorescence staining was used to assess changes in these populations during treatment with Solanum lyratum extract, providing a tissue-level analysis of neutrophil involvement in an inflammatory skin-disease model 42551598Aug.
In aged traumatic brain injury, investigators reported a skull bone marrow-derived neutrophil subpopulation expressing interleukin-10 (IL-10) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). The study described elevated IL-10 expression and functional enrichment of this population in young traumatic brain-injury tissues, while examining potential neuroprotective effects in the aged injury setting 42150286May.
In patients with NSCLC treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a cohort of 173 patients receiving at least three treatment cycles was analyzed to investigate endocrine immune-related adverse events. Hematologic variables included absolute neutrophil, lymphocyte, and eosinophil counts, as well as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, with hierarchical clustering used for biomarker prediction of endocrine toxicity 42493517Jul.
Neutrophils were also investigated as vehicles for targeted drug delivery. A biomimetic trident lipid anchoring strategy was designed to stabilize drug conjugation to neutrophils and exploit their inflammatory trafficking toward tumor vasculature. In breast cancer models, this approach supported site-specific drug release in the tumor vasculature and produced anti-angiogenic and antitumor effects 41942056Apr.
A clinical study of percutaneous coronary intervention examined acute changes in neutrophil activation, maturity, and chemotaxis markers in coronary and peripheral blood. The work was designed to determine whether the intervention produces compartment-specific or systemic alterations in neutrophil state immediately after treatment 42185026May.
Following spinal cord injury, nanoparticle-based interventions were studied for their effects on the immune and vascular microenvironment. The investigators examined direct and indirect modulation of monocyte and neutrophil phenotype and trafficking during the acute phase of injury, and used computational analysis to catalogue communication networks among cell types within the injured tissue 42242916Jun.
Collectively, these publications position neutrophils at the intersection of inflammation, cancer biology, cardiovascular disease, tissue injury, and therapeutic engineering. The associated methods include flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, multiplex molecular profiling, and computational analysis. Across these settings, neutrophils are treated not only as inflammatory effector cells but also as heterogeneous populations that can influence CD8-positive T cells, macrophages, cytokine networks, reactive oxygen species, NET formation, tumor microenvironment organization, and treatment-associated biomarkers.
Written from 9 PubMed abstracts, each one cited by PMID above. Published: 2026-09-10. Drafted by language models from published abstracts; not medical advice.