[Effects of endogenous cortisol on the function of nonspecific T-suppressors and quantitative characteristics of main subpopulations of circulating T-lymphocytes in leprosy]. / Vliianie éndogennogo kortizola na funktsiiu nespetsificheskikh T-supressorov i kolichestvennye kharakteristiki osnovnykh subpopuliatsii tsirkuliruiushchikh T-limfotsitov pri lepre.

Serum hydrocortisone levels, cellular immunity and their correlation were studied in 38 patients with lepromatous lepra in regression. 12 of them had exacerbation of specific polyneuritis. The latter condition is accompanied by a rise in hydrocortisone concentrations. Relative number of blood CD8+ lymphocytes correlated positively with hydrocortisone content, whereas the quantity of CD4+ cells correlated negatively. In patients without neurological complications in negative correlation between blood hydrocortisone and lymphocyte glucocorticoid sensitivity there was a positive relationship between nonspecific T-suppressor activity and hydrocortisone levels. The involvement of endogenic hydrocortisone in T-suppressor activity regulation in regressive lepra can help understand the role of endocrine dysfunction and stress in pathogenesis of lepra relapses.

[The reaction of cultured mononuclear cells from the peripheral blood of patients with lepromatous leprosy to rabbit interleukin-1]. / Reaktsiia kul'tiviruemykh mononuklearov perifericheskoi krovi bol'nykh lepromatoznoi leproi na interleikin-1 krolika.

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) obtained from leukocytes of rabbit peritoneal exudate was added to concanavalin A-stimulated cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from healthy donors and patients with lepromatous lepra at the active stage of the process. The comitogenic effect of IL-1, observed in the process of its action on mononuclear donor cells, has been found to be linked with the presence of the state of leprous reaction in the patient and is not manifested in the absence of such state. This indicates that intercellular cooperation processes mediated by IL-1 play some role both in the mechanisms of immunodepression in lepra and in the pathogenesis of leprous reactions connected with the activation of cell immunity.

Dependence of proliferative activity of lymphocytes on basal levels of lymphocytic cyclic nucleotides in lepromatous leprosy patients.

The correlation between the lymphocyte blast transformation test and the basal levels of cyclic nucleotides (cAMP and cGMP) in lymphocytes was studied in 30 patients with lepromatous leprosy and 14 healthy persons. Cells in cultures of whole blood were stimulated with PPD and PHA. As compared to healthy persons, leprosy patients showed inversion of the role of cGMP basal levels in proliferative activity of lymphocytes in a response to PPD. The data obtained give rise to a hypothesis which might explain the low effectiveness of immune stimulators in leprosy.