[Free radical processes in the phagocytes of the lung in the diagnosis of granulomatous diseases].

The functional activity of pulmonary phagocytes (alveolar macrophages and macrophages isolated from biopsy specimens) was studied in patients with active sarcoidosis and active tuberculosis, by examining the level of free radical processes in them by luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL). The CL parameters of alveolar macrophages were found to significantly differ in their baseline and peak CL-induced levels and the time of emergence of the peak CL-induced level. The CL level of macrophages isolated from the biopsy specimens does not play a prominent role in the differential diagnosis between these groups of diseases. The time of emergence of the peak of CL-induced alveolar macrophages in response to Mycobacterium BCG strain stimulation is of the most informative value in the differential diagnosis of active tuberculosis and active sarcoidosis. A relationship was found between the clinical and laboratory manifestations and the parameters of free radical processes of pulmonary phagocytes in a granulomatous inflammatory process (in case of sarcoidosis). The CL alveolar macrophage parameters that characterize the activity of the process were related to the magnitude of patients' complaints, the levels of haptoglobin and neutrophils in blood samples. The CL parameters of macrophages isolated from the biopsy specimens correlated with the levels of haptoglobin and gamma-globulin.