[Study of immunoglobulin E in sera and bronchoalveolar fluid of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis]

A highly sensitive sandwich-variety of EIA was used to measure the content of IgE in 144 sera and 59 samples of the bronchoalveolar fluid (BAF) of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. As compared to normal persons, the content of serum IgE in the patients was significantly increased; the content of IgE in tuberculosis patients appeared as high as that in patients suffering from atopic allergy (pollenosis, bronchial asthma). The highest content of IgE was detected in patients with disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis, in the active disease phase, including those with bacterial isolation. The content of IgE was much higher in a group of patients with delayed process involution and inadequate treatment results than in a group with beneficial treatment results. The findings of the clinicoimmunological analysis permit the high content of serum IgE to be estimated as an unfavourable prognostic sign. In the BAF of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, IgE was discovered in 30% of cases. A good correlation was noted between the IgE content in the serum and the frequency of IgE demonstration in the BAF.