[The clinical value of determining beta-glucuronidase activity in the cells and blood serum of patients with systemic scleroderma].

The spectrophotometric method was used to determine the activity of beta-glucuronidase (BGU) in the cells (neutrophils, mononuclear cells, thrombocytes) in the blood serum of patients with systemic sclerodermia (SSD). The authors revealed a synchronous change in the activity of BGU in all the cells and in the blood serum, and also a decrease in the activity of the enzyme in the concentration of protein in neutrophils, it being very significant in patients with SSD accompanied by trophic changes. There was a direct relationship between the activity of BGU in the blood serum and the level of C-reactive protein and an inverse one between the activity of BGU and the content of circulating immune complexes in the blood. The level of BGU in the blood serum reflects not only the activity of the inflammatory process but also the markedness of trophic changes in patients with SSD.