Aim. To study the immunological parameters and the concentration of antimicrobial peptides defensins, neutrophil elastase, endotoxin and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein in patients with chronic hepatitis C, and to identify the relationship between these changes and their role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Methods. Blood plasma of 64 patients with chronic hepatitis C, including 31 patients with uncomplicated course of the disease (the first group) and 33 patients with chronic hepatitis C, accompanied by a bacterial infection (pneumonia, the second group) was studied. The concentration of total, direct and indirect bilirubin was determined by Endrashik method, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase - by Reitman-Frankel method, γ-glutamyl transferase enzyme activity and total protein level - using «Diasys» (Germany) commercial kits. Defensin, endotoxin, neutrophil elastase and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein levels were determined by ELISA using «Hycult Biotechnology» (The Netherlands) kit. To assess the state of cellular and humoral immunity, lymphocytes subpopulations were determined by indirect surface immunofluorescence reaction using murine monoclonal antibodies to CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD14+, CD16+, CD25+ lymphocyte antigens. Results. Immunological parameters changed unidirectionally in both groups of patients. The degree of the antimicrobial peptides increase was higher in the second group, which is probably due to the presence of bacterial factor, in addition to the virus. The number of CD3+-lymphocytes negatively correlated with the level of α-defensins (p <0.005) in the first group of patients. A strong positive correlation of the CD8+-cells count and elafin level (p <0.001) and elastase (p <0.001) was revealed. The number of CD16+-cells showed a strong positive relationship only with elastase level (p <0.001). Conclusion. The obtained data justify the use of defensin, neutrophil elastase, endotoxin and lipopolysaccharide binding protein as additional biomarkers for assessing the inflammatory process in the liver at viral and bacterial infections.

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ISRA (India) = 3.117 ISI (Dubai, UAE) = 0.829 GIF (Australia) = 0.564 JIF = 1.500 SIS (USA) = 0.912 РИНЦ (Russia) = 0.156 ESJI (KZ) = 5.015 SJIF (Morocco) = 5.667 ICV (Poland) = 6.630 PIF (India) = 1.940 IBI (India) = 4

The aim of this work was a comparative study of the amount of antimicrobial peptides - human neutrophil peptides - defensins (HNP), hepcidin, bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), and endotoxin in β-thalassemia. Blood samples of 135 patients with thalassemia were investigated. All patients were divided into 3 groups. The first group included patients with heterozygous form (n=45). The second group consisted of patients with homozygous form before splenectomy (n=45). The third group included patients with homozygous form after splenectomy (n=45). The age of patients varied from 2 to 18 years. Biochemical [unconjugated and conjugated bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, hemoglobin, ferritin, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV)] and immune (IgA, IgM, IgG, phagocytic activity) parameters were defined. Obtained results suggest that increased levels of endogenous antimicrobial peptides are associated with the development of the infectious process and reflect the dynamics of changes in biochemical parameters and immune status.