[Secondary immunodeficiency in Pseudotuberculosis in man and in experiment]

Surgical material from 55 children, from 2 to 15 years of age with an abdominal form of pseudotuberculosis (appendix, lymph nodes, ileum) and the immunogenesis organs (lymphoid tissue of the small intestine, lymph nodes, appendix, spleen and thymus) of 277 rabbits infected with virulent strains of the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis I serovar at the dose of 10(8) bacterial bodies were investigated. The results testify to the disturbance of all parts of the immuno-phagocytic system in pseudotuberculosis with the development in some cases of secondary immunodeficiency due to the specific damage of the lymphoid tissue and the functional deficiency of phagocytes. This probably results from the cytotoxicity of the pathogenic factor inhibiting the host defense mechanisms. The tendency to pseudotuberculosis exacerbation and recurrence is associated with the development of the immunodeficiency.