[Thymus in systemic lupus erythematosus]. / Timus pri sistemnoi krasnoi volchanke.

The role of the thymus in pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus confirms that SLE is a severe autoimmune disease with T-suppressor insufficiency. The latter may be caused by both congenital factors (incompetence of thymic epithelial cells or interleucin-2 defect) and acquired in the course of the disease as a result of inactivation of the thymic hormones or thymic epithelial cells by circulating inhibitors. Measurements of serum thymic factor and evaluation of cellular immunity discovered thymus-dependent failure of antiinfection defense in SLE patients. Tactivin treatment produced a 3-fold increase in thymic activity.

[T-activin in multimodal treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus in children]. / Taktivin v kompleksnoi terapii sistemnoi krasnoi volchanki u detei.

The efficacy of taktivin was examined by comparison of the time-course of changes in cellular immunity, the course of the underlying disease and the incidence of infectious complications in two groups of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The first group included 49 patients aged 8 to 15 years receiving taktivin, the second one 34 children of the same age not given immunomodulatory therapy. The morphofunctional status of the thymus was studied in 9 cases on autopsy. The prolonged treatment with taktivin (for 4 weeks and over) resulted in an increase of the number of patients with the improved health status and reduction of SLE activity, in a rise of the content of serum thymic factor, activation of the processes of T lymphocyte differentiation, in an increase of the lymphocyte count in patients with secondary infection, activation of phagocytosis, rise of bactericidal activity of the serum, which entailed the elimination and prevention of the development of secondary infectious complications. Taktivin promotes the normalization of the thymic structure and exerts a replacement effect.

[The functional morphology of the thymus in systemic lupus erythematosus and its characteristics during immunodepressive and immunostimulating therapies]. / Funktsional'naia morfologiia timusa pri sistemnoi krasnoi volchanke, ee osobennosti pri immunodepressivnoi i immunostimuliruiushchei terapii.

Functional morphology of thymus is studied in 10 autopsy cases of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in patients of 8 to 30 years, treated with high doses of glucocorticosteroids (GCS) alone or in combination with tactivin or without immunomodulating therapy. Manifestations of SLE are interstitial thymitis and pronounced thymus parenchyma atrophy which is present regardless of therapy. In the absence of the therapy with high doses of GCS, increase of perivascular spaces of thymus lobules with the appearance in these spaces of lymphoid follicles results in the false increase of the thymus volume and weight simulating its hyperplasia. GCS therapy enhances parenchymal atrophy and decreases the size of perivascular spaces. The use of tactivin against this background results in some normalization of thymic structure enhancing the lymphocyte proliferative activity. Effect of tactivin is masked by a more powerful GCS therapy.

[The theophylline test in the evaluation of the state of cellular immunity in children with different clinical courses of systemic lupus erythematosus]. / Teofillinovyi test v otsenke sostoianiia kletochnogo immuniteta u detei s razlichnym klinicheskim techeniem sistemnoi krasnoi volchanki.

An inverse reaction of T-lymphocytes to theophylline is sometimes observed in children with systemic lupus erythematosus. In this case the disease runs a more benign course and is less resistant to prednisolone therapy. The theophylline test is recommended for the prediction of the disease course.