[Bacteriostatic activity of blood in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis during polychemotherapy].

Polychemotherapy comprising 4-6 antituberculosis drugs and prescribed either only daily, daily or given on an intermittent basis (every other day) or only on an intermittent basis was given for 4-8 months to 102 patients with destructive pulmonary tuberculosis (in those newly diagnosed, treated earlier and with a process recurrence). Four and, less frequently, three drugs were used per day. Bacteriostatic blood activity (BBA) was high in 90.2% of the patients, at the maximal concentrations, bacteriostasis was seen at 32-256-fold blood dilutions; in 76.4% of the patients BBA persisted at a high or moderate level during 24 hours (blood dilutions were within 1:256-1:8). The maximal and total BBA level was significantly higher in polychemotherapy than in a combination of 3 drugs. In polychemotherapy bacilli excretion was discontinued in 90% and caverns healed in 74.5% of the patients, while in the regimens comprising 3 drugs in the same contingent of patients, similar events occurred in 77% and 60% of the cases, respectively.