[The specific features of the course of pulmonary tuberculosis in young Tuvinians in relation to some antigens of the HLA complex].

The study covered 127 new-onset pulmonary tuberculosis patients aged 18-30 years. Disseminated, focal, and infiltrative tuberculosis were found in 10.2, 22, 46.5, respectively and caseous pneumonia were present in 21.3%. Lung cavities were detectable in 92 patients and bacterial excretion was in 90% patients, Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains susceptible to all anti-tuberculous drugs were revealed in 10% of cases; monoresistant, polyresistant, and multidrug resistant strains were found in 6.7, 34.4, and 48.9%, respectively. Chemotherapy was performed in accordance with Order No. 109 issued by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation on March 21, 2003. Following 12 months of therapy, sustained cessation of bacterial excretion and closure of lung cavity could be achieved in 49.6% of the patients and a decelerated trend in the specific process with the a high proportion of progressive tuberculosis was noted in 50.3%. Immunogenetic studies have shown a positive correlation of HLA-B27, Cw4, and the specificity of HLA-DRB1*13 with the extent of the tuberculous process and the severity of lung tissue damages. If a patient with tuberculosis had these genetic markers, the specific process could reliably take a severer form, with the involvement of 1 lobe or more in both lungs and with cavitation. In addition, HLA-17 and the specificity of HLA-DRB1*15 were, on the contrary, associated with the milder course of tuberculosis and the less extent of the specific process.

[Study of the polymorphic markers--the PARK2 and PACRG genes due to the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in two districts of the Republic of Tyva].

Polymerase chain reaction-RFLP was used to distribute two polymorphic markers (SNP) PARK2-e01 (-697) and rs1333955 located at the common promoter site of the PARK2 and PACRG genes in order to reveal assumed associations with the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in the Barum-Khemchiksky and Ovyursky Districts of the Republic of Tyva. No significant differences were found in the frequencies of these two polymorphic markers between the groups of patients with tuberculosis and healthy individuals, residing in the above districts, and between the total control samples from both districts. The total group of patients with tuberculosis from the two districts from the Republic of Tyva showed a significant surplus of heterozygotes in both study markers, as compared with the group of healthy individuals, which was also observed for the marker rs1333955 in the Barum-Khemchksky District alone. The observed features of genotypic distribution by the two study markers point to the influence of the considered markers on the incidence of tuberculosis.

[Genetic HLA markers associated with pulmonary tuberculosis in the Barum-Khemchiksky District, Republic of Tyva].

Detection of the genetic markers determining a predisposition to pulmonary tuberculosis is a necessary condition for the warranted formation of risk groups in the populations. On this basis, the authors used immunogenetic studies to examine 60 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and 96 healthy individuals of Tuvinian nationality, who lived in the Barum-Khemchiksky District, Republic of Tyva. The microlymphocytotoxic test was used to determine class I HLA antigens and polymerase chain reaction was employed to reveal the specificity of class II HLA-DRB1 gene. The study revealed a positive association of HLA-B27 antigen and the specificities of HLA-DRB1 13(6) HLA-DRB1 14(6) with tuberculosis, which permits tuberculosis risk groups to be formed, by taking into account the immunogenetic data obtained in this district of the Republic of Tyva.

[Effect of use of bone marrow cells in therapy for experimental tuberculosis].

The authors studied the efficiency of use of bone marrow cells in the treatment of experimental tuberculosis. Bone marrow cell transplantation to H37Rv tuberculosis-infected H37Rv mice was shown to prolong the life span in the animals as compared to untreated animals. Examination of humoral immunity indicated that administration of allogenic bone marrow cells resulted in the nonspecific polyisotypic stimulation of antituberculosis antibodies, which is essential in producing the protective humoral background. A more significant generation of IgG2a antibodies than that of IgG1 antibodies was also found in therapy with bone marrow cells, which pointed to the fact that there was a Th1 response that is obviously protective in tuberculosis. The high level of IgG2a antibodies correlated with the high specific cellular immune response estimated by the delayed hypersensitivity reaction.