[Immunology of cardiovascular diseases in children]. / Imunologija kardiovaskularnih bolesti djeteta.

Cardiovascular diseases in children are most usually caused by the disturbances in the immune system. The disease very often occurs after infections with a secondary immune response to the cardiovascular system; lately there are more frequently secondary responses after surgical treatment on the heart. Passive transfer of maternal antibodies through the placenta results particularly in congenital complete heart block in newborns and infants. Rheumatic heart disease is the most usual manifestation of humoral and cell-mediated reactivity in patients. Due to cardiotoxicity of eosinophils, endomyocardial diseases with eosinophilia are developed. There is a problem of arteritis of the coronary arteries as part of some allergic diseases, especially of Kawasaki disease. Immunologically mediated diseases of the cardiovascular system in children need further studies.

T-lymphocyte subpopulations in children's atopic asthma.

A group of children with atopic asthma (42) and the control group of normal children (30) were examined in order to determine the level of suppressor and helper T lymphocyte subpopulations in each group by using monoclonal antibodies. The asthmatic children were divided into two subgroups: one group received no therapy (30) and the other was treated with specific hyposensitization (12). Suppressor T lymphocytes were significantly lower in the subgroup of non-treated asthmatic children (p less than 0.01) and significantly higher (p less than 0.01) in the subgroup of children treated with immunotherapy. The stimulation index using mitogens was higher in the group of asthmatic children. The results suggest that the reduction and functional damage of suppressor T lymphocytes may have an influence on the pathogenesis of asthma and that immunotherapy may be beneficial in the treatment of atopic asthma in children.