Humoral and cellular immunologic reactions to structural glycoproteins of the heart valves in active rheumatic heart disease
Rassokhina, I.I.; Andreeva, L.N.; Kuz'mina, N.N.; Mikhaĭlova, I.N.; Avdeeva, Z.I.
Terapevticheskii Arkhiv 52(10): 123-126
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0040-3660 PMID: 6969460 Document Number: 166481
Patients (109) with rheumatic fever [RF] were examined. In 80% of patients the disease was preceded by tonsillitis, influenza or upper respiratory tract congestion. The disease began with acute polyarthritis in 75 of 109 patients. In patients with acute RF, circulating antibodies to structural glycoprotein of heart valves were revealed by passive hemagglutination in the 1st wk of disease onset. Studies of cellular immunity [CI] using the leukocyte migration inhibition (LMI) reaction revealed shifts of the CI index in children with RF as compared to the CI of healthy children. Differences of the CI index were also observed between patients with RF and patients with the toxic-allergic form of chronic tonsillitis. The considerable LMI observed even during low RF activity was due to systematic affection of connective tissue. The greatest LMI was observed in children with protracted RF. Although anti-rheumatic therapy brought about a remission of RF activity, the LMI remained abnormal, confirming the retention of the RF activity which evidently required a more prolonged combined treatment.