Local immunity status of oropharynx in patients with scleroma

Introduction: Scleroma is a rare chronic granulomatous disease of the upper respiratory tract caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. rhinoscleromatis. To date its pathogenesis is as yet little understood. At the same time, scleroma is associated with a number of immune system disturbances. The aim: To study local immunity status of oropharynx in patients with scleroma, and to compare its parameters in various clinical forms of the disease. Material and methods: 20 apparently healthy subjects and 92 patients with scleroma (33 males, 59 females) underwent clinical immunologic evaluation. There were 31 patients with dominating infiltrative form of scleroma, 30 ­ with dominating atrophic form, 31 ­ with dominating scarring form. Concentration of secretory and monomeric immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin G, α-interferon, interleukin 1ß in oropharyngeal secretion was determined by enzyme immunoassay. Resluts: Patients with scleroma were found to have altered local immunity of oropharyngeal secretion. There was a strong tendency for decreased concentration of secretory immunoglobulin A - 1.3-2.0 times, and decreased immunoglobulin G level ­ 1.5-2.3 times (р < 0.05) as compared to the values in healthy subjects. Specific features of local immunity in oropharyngeal secretion in various forms of scleromatous inflammatory process in upper respiratory tract were found: the most significant decrease of α-interferon concentration in atrophic and scarring forms of the disease, and the largest increase of anti-inflammatory interleukin 1ß and immune complex concentration in infiltrative form of scleroma. Conslusions: The study revealed deficiency of local immunity factors in oropharynx, being indicative of immunopathogenetic role of diagnosed disturbances in development and persistence of chronic inflammation in scleroma, and emphasizing the necessity of immunocorrection in complex therapy of the disease.