[Evolution of serum parameters of iron metabolism and of the natural resistance of tuberculosis patients under treatment].

The authors have studied the evolution of serum parameters of iron metabolism in patients with tuberculosis during the standard chemotherapy. The results are discussed, in the perspective of a model of natural resistance depending on iron. No strict correlation was found between the bacteriostatic capacity of the serum and the process of saturation with iron of transferrin, probably due to participation in the bacteriostatic effect of other factors beside transferrin. The results have demonstrated that the imbalance between the serum values of copper (that are increased), and those of iron (that are low) tends to become normal during the recovery, as evaluated by a negativation of the sputum cultures. These results suggest that the use of a ratio between copper and iron in the blood serum as a method for assessing the recovery of the balance in the tuberculous organism during therapy is justified.