[Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in patients with asthma: Results of a prospective study]. / Allergicheskii bronkholegochnyi aspergillez u bol'nykh bronkhial'noi astmoi: rezul'taty prospektivnogo issledovaniia.

AIM: To estimate the frequency of fungal sensitization and the incidence of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) in asthmatic patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 140 asthmatic patients were examined. They underwent allergologic (skin tests for fungal allergens, estimation of total and fungal allergen-specific IgE levels) and mycological (microscopy and inoculation of respiratory biosubstrates) examinations. Chest computed tomography, when indicated, was done. A group of patients with ABPA and that of patients with severe asthma and fungal sensitization were identified. RESULTS: The frequency of fungal sensitization in asthmatic patients was 36%; the main allergenic fungi were Aspergillus and Alternaria. The incidence of ABPA was as high as 4% in the patients with asthma and 11% in those with severe asthma and fungal sensitization. CONCLUSION: The given current diagnostic criteria will assist practitioners to identify ABPA, to prevent its progression, and to initiate specific anti-inflammatory and antifungal therapy in due time.

[Common variable immunodeficiency in adults]. / Obshchaya variabel'naya immunnaya nedostatochnost' u vzroslykh.

The paper analyzes 7 cases of common variable immune deficiency (CVID), a primary immunodeficiency disease. All the cases were detected in outpatients over the age of 40 years. The diagnosis was based on their history data and general clinical findings with due regard for the results of previously conducted functional studies, expert opinions, and the results of immunological studies including the quantitative and functional indices of T and B cells, phagocytes and the levels of immunoglobulins. The analysis showed that the early signs of impaired immunity in all the patients were seen by physicians of various specialties in both outpatient and inpatient settings. Generalizing of all information about the patient could become the basis for a simple and accessible practical public-health study of immunoglobulins levels significantly sooner than this diagnosis being verified. This testifies that the physicians of various specialties are partially aware of the clinical signs of immunodeficiency states and that there is a need for a clinical immunologist in adult healthcare facilities. This is especially important since the early clinical manifestations of both primary immunodeficiency disorders that are increasingly frequently detected and nonhereditary - secondary ones can be very similar. The timely verification of the diagnosis is necessary for prescribing adequate therapy with intravenous immunoglobulins to prevent severe chronic pyoinflammatory lung disease and disability in patients with CVID.

[Comparative analysis of general and local immunoreactivity in patients with chronic vulvovaginitis of mixed etiology]. / Sravnitel'nyi analiz obshchei i mestnoi immunoreaktivnosti u bol'nykh khronicheskim vul'vovaginitom smeshannoi étiologii.

The clinical and pathogenetic importance of local immunity in patients with chronic vulvovaginitis (CVV) caused by fungi of the genus Candida or by mixed microflora was studied. 73 patients were examined during the period of exacerbation and 11 patients, at the phase of the remission of the disease. The levels of interferon, interleukin 1 beta, interleukin 8 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in vaginal washings (VW) were determined for the evaluation of local reactiveness and the subpopulation composition of peripheral blood lymphocytes was established. Patients with CVV in the phases of exacerbation and remission were found to have essential differences in the content of cytokines in VW, while the results obtained in the groups of patients at the stage of remission and control subjects were found to be highly similar.

[The efficacy of Neovir in the combined treatment of patients with operable tumors of the gastrointestinal tract]. / Effektivnost' Neovira v kompleksnom lechenii bol'nykh s operabel'nymi opukholiami zheludochno-kishechnogo trakta.

Under observation there were 32 patients with operable tumors of the gastro-intestinal tract. The average age of the patients was (64.8 +/- 7.5) years. Patients of the control group (18 patients were given the routine complex treatment. The main group (14 patients) were additionally given the interferonogenic immunomodulator "Neovir" which resulted in lower risk of the appearance of pyo-septic complications. It was confirmed by positive dynamics of the indices of cellular immunity, intensified production of proinflammatory cytokines and interferon-alpha.