Silicon dioxide in combination with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in BCG vaccine is characterized by a significantly higher granuloma-inducing activity than BCG or silicon dioxide alone. Cell "dissociation" from granulomas is not characteristic of granulomas induced by silicon dioxide or its combination with BCG (in contrast to BCG-induced granulomas). A steady increase in the counts and size, particularly on days 120-180, mainly at the expense of fibroblast accumulation and subtotal fibrosis, are intrinsic to these granulomas. Monocyte retention in the bone marrow is characteristic starting from day 56 until day 180 after injection of both granulomatous factors alone or in combination, particularly so in BCG granulomatosis.

We studied the effect of preliminary loading of peritoneal macrophages with silicium dioxide on in vitro viability, phagocytosis of BCG strain mycobacteria, and the capability to destroy the phagocytosed mycobacterium tuberculosis. It was shown that preliminary loading of macrophages with silicium dioxide did not reduce their viability and stimulated phagocytosis of BCG strain mycobacteria, but reduced their antibacterial activity.