[Chemotaxis, phagocytosis and metabolic activation of leukocytes in patients with acute pneumonia]. / Khemotaksis, fagotsitoz i metabolicheskaia aktivatsiia leikotsitov u bol'nykh ostroi pnevmoniei.

The authors describe changes in functional activity of peripheral blood leukocytes, namely in the absorptive capacity, metabolic activation, chemotaxis in vivo and in vitro in patients with grave acute pneumonia (n-102) and destructive pneumonia (n-16). At the stage of active inflammation, the patients with acute pneumonia showed a decrease in leukocyte function (chemotaxis and phagocytosis) and metabolic activation of that cell type, related to the growth of the output of the toxic forms of oxygen. The changes revealed were found to be dependent on the activity of inflammation and volume of infiltration in the pulmonary tissue. The functional changes in leukocytes discovered in patients suffering from acute pneumonia, particularly in those with destruction confirm the possibility that those cells are involved into the pathogenesis of the destructive process.

[Immunological tests in the prognostication of postoperative complications in patients with chronic diseases of the lungs]. / Immunologicheskie testy prognozirovaniia posleoperatsionnykh oslozhnenii u bol'nykh s khronicheskimi zabolevaniiami legkikh.

The authors examined 50 patients with chronic diseases of the lungs in the pre- and post-operative period. Immunological indices, neutrophil phagocytic activity in the first place, in combination with the laboratory severity index make it possible to conduct effective control of preoperative management and the patients condition in the postoperative period.

[Effect of thymalin on immunologic reactivity of patients with non-specific lung diseases]. / Vliianie timalina na immunologicheskuiu reaktivnost' bol'nykh nespetsificheskimi zabolevaniiami legkikh.

A total of 35 patients with non-specific pulmonary diseases were examined. Twenty-one patients were administered thymalin in addition to standard treatment. Fourteen subjects made up a control group. Immunologic studies made it possible to establish that administration of thymalin in relatively small doses (5 ml, 4-6 injections per treatment course) is an effective means of correcting the decreased characteristics of cellular immunity, favouring the normalization of the lymphocyte count and of the proportion of OKT-4+ and OKT-8+ subpopulations. The drug was found to exert no substantial effect on the other characteristics of immunity, namely on chemotaxis and phagocytosis of leukocytes, the content of immunoglobulins and on circulating immune complexes. Thymalin produced an appreciably beneficial action on the disease course in patients with preserved function of the phagocytic component.

[Prognostic criteria of suppurative-destructive complications in patients with a severe course of acute pneumonia]. / Kriterii prognoza gnoino-destruktivnykh oslozhnenii u bol'nykh s tiazhelym techeniem ostroi pnevmonii.

54 patients with acute pneumonia were examined. There were 36 men and 18 women aged 16 to 72 years. Use was made of the clinico-roentgenological, bronchological and laboratory methods including biochemistry and immunoassays to assess the gravity of the patients' condition. The system protease inhibitors, the concentration of immunoglobulins in blood serum, circulating immune complexes, functional activity of neutrophils and monocytes of peripheral blood were under study. The major part of the patients (45 persons) did not develop destructive lesions, in 9 patients, pneumonia was complicated by suppurative-destructive lesions. In both patients' groups, the disease (in 90.3% of cases) ran its course with the signs of active virus infection. The risk factor for the destruction development was the rise of the laboratory gravity index to over 5-6 marks, a tendency towards the decrease of the phagocytic activity of monocytes and immunoglobulin M, the presence of unbalance in the system protease inhibitors at the expense of inadequate reduction of the antiproteolytic potential.

[Mechanism of the antimicrobial action of myeloperoxidase. The role of adsorption of the enzyme on the target cell surface]. / K mekhanizmu antimikrobnogo deistviia mieloperoxidazy. Rol' adsorbtsii fermenta na poverkhnosti kletki-misheni.

Myeloperoxidase (MPO), obtained from the granular fraction of bovine neutrophils at low concentrations (3 nm), exerted antibiotic influence on E. coli. After treatment with the MPO3 - H2O2 - Cl- system the number of living cells in the suspension dropped to 4.7% of the initial value. The preliminary treatment of MPO with antibodies at high concentrations, thus preventing MPO from being adsorbed on the surface of bacterial cells without suppressing its enzymatic catalytic activity, resulted in the considerable decrease of its bactericidal effect. These results suggest that the adsorption of MPO on the surface of target cells is the essential condition of its antimicrobial action.