[Systems analysis in pathology and its potential use in studying the morphogenesis of infections]

A total systems approach is necessary to draw in integral concept of the pathological process as exemplified by investigations of morphogenesis of the infectious process. For this purpose a concept of the Mm-system is introduced and analysed which helps to study the infectious process as a special object: a system of microbial population (m) and macroorganism cells (M). The ontogenesis of the Mm-system is suggested consisting of 3 stages: formation, existence, and death. Considering the infectious process from the systemic point of view the author found many microbe-host cell interactions observed in infections to be characteristic not for the infectious pathology but to the particular manifestations of well-known but frequently ignored general biological regularities. A number of models of infectious diseases demonstrate the earliest morphological changes of the disturbed homeostasis in tissues containing microbes and the associated features of the infectious process. Comparing the time evolution of the Mm-system with the course of real infectious processes, one may approach the solution of some disputable aspects of the pathogenesis of infections, in particular, to elucidate the importance of intracellular accumulation of microbes observed in enteric infections. The Mm-system concept may find practical application in explaining pathomorphosis of infectious lesions under conditions of current methods of intensive specific therapy as well as in evaluating the mechanism of action of drugs when tested on models.