RESUMO
AIM: To study the activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in patients with pneumonia and chronic obstructive lung diseases (COLD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty nine patients with pneumonia and 77 with COLD were examined. The activity of ACE in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and the effects of leukocytic elastase and concentrations of zinc, endogenous inhibitors, and activators were studied. RESULTS: The patients with pneumonia in the acute phase of the disease have been found to have low ACE activity in both blood and BAL. As the inflammatory process comes to an end, ACE activity normalizes. In the patients with COLD, the activity of ACE is primarily decreased at remission. When COLD aggravates, the activity of ACE in blood and BAL increases. In pneumonia and COLD, the changes in ACE activity are more profound in BAL than in blood. CONCLUSION: The only cause of the altered activity of ACE in patients with COLD and pneumonia is a change in the concentration of the enzyme.
