ABSTRACT
To develop new differential and diagnostic markers of different types of bronchopulmonary diseases, sodium-lithium countertransport through the red blood cell membrane was studied in 119 children, including 30 patients with bronchitis, 21 with pneumonia, and 68 apparently healthy children (a control group). The majority of patients with pneumonia were found to have the maximum high sodium-lithium countertransport rate as compared with patients with bronchitis, although high sodium-lithium countertransport rates are generally typical of children with bronchopulmonary diseases, as shown by absolute values. These indices may be attributable to the influence of a genetic determinant and environmental factors. For final verification of this suggestion, a follow-up of the study group of patients is scheduled, by taking into account a change in the phenotype of red blood cell populations.
