Cellular Immunity in Men with Brain Damage Caused by Psychoactive Substance Use Living in Arkhangelsk

Abstract

Currently, the growth in the number of social diseases in the Russian Federation is quite high, especially in disorders due to the use of psychoactive substances (PAS). Numerous studies fail to include the immunological component, focusing instead on the diagnosis of PAS poisoning, clinical picture, treatment, prevention and rehabilitation of addicts. A comprehensive immunological examination of patients with severe PAS poisoning will allow us to predict the course and complications of the disease, as well as to determine an appropriate therapy. The purpose of this article was to assess the state of immune homeostasis in individuals with toxic brain damage. Materials and methods. The study involved 83 men aged 20–40 years with severe PAS poisoning admitted to City Clinical Hospital No. 1 named after E.E. Volosevich (Arkhangelsk, Russia). The immunological examination included determining the content of leukocytes, lymphocytes and their phenotypes CD3+, CD4+, CD5+, CD8+, CD10+, CD16+, CD25+, CD71+, CD95+ and HLA-DR+ as well as the level of S-100β protein in the peripheral blood. Results. Men with toxic encephalopathy aged 20–40 years showed a pronounced deficiency of: CD3+ differentiated lymphocytes in 31.0 %, CD4+ helpers in 48.4 %, CD5+ T-cell population in 86.7 %, CD16+ natural killers in 24.2 %, and cells with CD71+ transferrin receptors in 71.0 % of cases. In addition, we revealed an extremely high activity of CD95+ apoptosis in 100.0 % and cytotoxic activity of CD8+ in 38.1 % of cases. Dangerously high concentrations of S-100β protein (89.0 % of cases), cytotoxic CD8+ cells (38.1 %), CD10+ cells (48.1 %) and CD25+ interleukin-2 activators (68.8 %) against the background of lymphocytosis (24.0 %) and high concentration of HLA-DR+ class II histocompatibility antigens (65.6 %) in the examined men indicate a state of allostasis and an unfavourable prognosis for toxic brain injury.