[The mechanism of the combined action of immunomodulators on phagocytic cells].

The study revealed that the injection of different immunomodulators (salmosan, levamisole, BCG, prodigiosan) or such irritants as meat-peptone broth led to the formation of heterogeneous macrophage populations, differing in their phagocytic function, oxidation metabolism, secretion of protein products. The additional injection of immunomodulators led neither to further increase in the influx of cells into the abdominal cavity, nor to further activation of the phagocytic function in all cases, irrespective of background and additional preparations used in the experiment. The response was determined by the first stimulus. Each of these macrophage populations was seemingly in a characteristic state of self maintenance during a certain period when it was insensitive to the second stimulus, i.e. the existence of a certain refractory period was revealed. The effect produced by the additional injection was registered only at the expiration of the refractory period. Therefore, the data on the presence of a certain refractory period and its duration for each immunomodulator should be established and taken into consideration in working out the schedule of their combined use.