[The cellular mechanisms of antianthrax immunity]. / Kletochnye mekhanizmy protivosibireiazvennogo immuniteta.

The influence of the vaccination of mice and volunteers on the activity of natural killer cells (NKC) and K cells, the effectors of natural and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity of cells, was studied. Both types of killer cells were found to take an active part in the vaccinal process during the whole term of observation. The changes revealed in this study were characterized by two phases. At the first contact with the antigen a rise in the activity of killer cells was observed; this rise was then followed by their pronounced suppression, reflecting total structural changes which occurred in the infected macroorganism. Repeated injections of the antigen induced mainly the activation of K cells. The use of protective antibodies contained in the commercial preparation of antianthrax globulin exerted influence on the duration of changes in the activity of NKC and K cells of the infected animals.

[The characteristics of the antibody response of animals immunized with components of the surface structures of Francisella tularensis]. / Osobennosti antitel'nogo otveta u zhivotnykh, immunizirovannykh komponentami poverkhnostnykh struktur Francisella tularensis]

Antibody formation in animals immunized with one of the components of F. tularensis surface structures was studied. The time course of antibody formation in 20 hamadryas baboons was studied in the passive hemagglutination (PHA) test, microagglutination (MA) test, and indirect enzyme immunoassay, used for the determination of IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies. The character of antibody response in the animals immunized with components of F. tularensis surface structures (S-complex) and with live tularemia vaccine was compared. The study revealed that immunization with the S-complex induced the formation of antibodies detected by all three methods. Antibody formation to the S-complex was found to be dose-dependent. With the increase of the injected dose of the S-complex, antibody titers determined in the PHA test decreased and those determined in the MA test increased, which was seemingly due to the induction of antibodies differing in their isotypes. After immunization with the S-complex the levels of IgG antibodies were lower and the levels of IgM antibodies by day 28 after immunization higher than after the injection of live tularemia vaccine.

[The use of microdot immunoenzyme analysis with visual detection for the determination of tularemia antibodies]. / Ispol'zovanie mikrotochechnogo immunofermentnogo analiza s vizual'noi indikatsiei dlia opredeleniia tuliaremiinykh antitel.

The possibility of using the micropoint enzyme immunoassay (EIA) on a nitrocellulose membrane with the visual evaluation of results for the detection of tularemia IgG antibodies in hamadryas baboons at the postvaccinal period has been studied. The sensitivity of this assay has been compared with that of the passive hemagglutination (PHA) test, the microagglutination (MA) test and EIA with the spectrophotometric evaluation of results in plates. As shown in this study, EIA in the above-mentioned modification can be successfully used for the detection of tularemia antibodies in the blood serum. The sensitivity of micropoint EIA has proved to be not inferior to that of EIA in plates, while exceeding the sensitivity of the PHA test 10- to 20-fold and the sensitivity of the MA test 10- to 1,000-fold. This method is simple, reliable, highly sensitive, economic and requires no special equipment, which makes it highly promising for the diagnosis of tularemia and the evaluation of humoral immunity at the postvaccinal period.