RESUMO
Significant impairments of lipid homeostasis were observed in lipid composition of erythrocyte membranes and blood serum in acute period of meningococcal infection, involving pronounced alterations in content of phospholipids, phospholipid fractions, total cholesterol, unesterified fatty acids as well as activation of phospholipase A2. The degree and pattern of dyslipidemia depended on clinical form, severity of the disease and age of children. The most serious deteriorations were found in the patients with a mixed form of the disease, at early age and during the critical period of meningitis. Studies of lipid composition in erythrocyte membranes, as compared with that of blood serum, enabled to obtain more clear-cut and certain information on the state of lipid homeostasis in the disease. Estimation of main components of lipid metabolism might be used as informative criterion for evaluation of the disease severity and for prognosis of unfavourable outcome.