the chemiluminescent response is measured for at least 10 to 20 minutes to determine the extent of sepsis in comparison to a control chemiluminescence may be measured for an hour or longer but over time the neutrophils appear to be progressively deactivated or their chemiluminescent response is exhausted or an inhibitory luminol metabolite is formed zymosan is a fungal polysaccharide which is optionally used to stimulate phagocytic cells it is well known that phagocytic cells elicit a maximal phagocytic response when they can ingest particulate matter particularly via receptor mediated mechanisms although untreated zymosan can stimulate the phagocytic response a much more exaggerated response can be achieved by opsonizing the zymosan first the process of opsonization for this invention involves the binding of igg 39 s and complement factors ic3b and c3b to the zymosan this process allows the opsonized zymosan to bind to three different classes of receptors on the phagocytic cells igg 39 s bind to specific fc receptors c3b coated particles bind to cr 1 receptors and ic3b coated particles bind to the cr3 receptor non opsonized zymosan binds only to a subsite of the cd11b cd18 integrin receptor which is different from the ic3b cr 3.