Elimination of apoptotic bodies is one of the important functions of macrophages. The aim of this work was to study the role of macrophage lectins in this process. Macrophage lectins were probed with neoglycoconjugates Glyc-PAA-fluo where carbohydrate is linked to fluorescein-labeled polyacrylamide (MW 30 kD). It was shown that neoglycoconjugates containing a Neu5Acalpha2-3Gal fragment bound to macrophages isolated from blood of healthy donors. Besides, carbohydrate chains containing the same fragment were revealed on apoptotic bodies. Phagocytosis of apoptotic bodies by macrophages was inhibited with sialooligosaccharide ligands of siglec-5 and MAbs to siglec-5. Thus, siglec-5 expressed on macrophages could participate in phagocytosis of apoptotic bodies. In addition, the role of siglecs in engulfment of apoptotic bodies by tumor-associated macrophages was studied. The phagocytic potency of macrophages isolated from blood of breast cancer patients was lower than engulfment ability of macrophages obtained from healthy donors and depended on tumor degree. Staining of macrophages obtained from blood of tumor patients with sialylated Glyc-PAA-fluo probes was more intense than that of macrophages from healthy donors; phagocytosis of apoptotic bodies by tumor-associated macrophages was inhibited by carbohydrates that are known to be ligands for siglecs.