The study included 90 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis who were divided into 3 groups, according to intensity and clinical form of the disease. Group 1 included 32 patients with infiltrative tuberculosis and two-segment pulmonary lesions; group 2, 31 patients with pulmonary tuberculoma, and group 3, 27 patients with fibrous/cavernous tuberculosis for less than two years after the process stabilization. Group 4 represented a control (comparison) group of 30 healthy volunteers. The analysis showed that amino acid balance of monocytes in pulmonary tuberculosis can be, in general, characterized as deficient for antioxidant resources. In case of tuberculous inflammation, the criteria of specific resistance comprise a necessary taurine pool to greater extent than glutathione oxidation in immunocompetent cells. The plasma/monocyte taurine ratios exhibit different values, depending on clinical form of pulmonary tuberculosis. Redistribution of plasma amino acids to the monocytes, or, vice versa, probable “washout” certain amino acids from the cells may be considered a factor that reflects severity of the infectious process.

Abstract. The phagocytosis is the key mechanism of organism protection from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The aim of the study is to assess the phagocytal activity of cells in lung tuberculosis by the flowing cytofluorometric method. Overall 39 patients were examined including 14 patients with infiltrative lung tuberculosis, 15 patients with tuberculoma, 10 healthy persons. The patient testing was provided by the machine COULTER®Epics®XL, reagents Phagotest® (Orpegen Pharma), BurstTestKit (Glycotope Biotechnology) and monoclonal antibodies to detect subpopulation of lymphocytes. All obtained data were statistically processed by the software STATISTICА. It was established that the assessment of phagocytal activity of cells is the important criteria of detection of tuberculosis activity in the early stages of observation as well as during the treatment. The flowing cytometria allows rapidly, accurately and objectively assess the phagocytal cells of blood. It was determined that markers of early activation of cells could reflect the activity of pathological process and it can be used for prognosis of clinical course of lung tuberculosis.