[Mechanisms of development of pneumonia after burns]

Experiments in rats (burns followed by intratracheal infection with a staphylococcus suspension) were used to study association between disorders in phagocytosis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and alveolar macrophages and histological manifestations of the inflammatory-infectious process in the lungs. Different resistance of micro- and macrophage cells to burn trauma was demonstrated. Disorders in the phagocytic properties of the cells were shown to precede the development of the inflammatory-infectious process documented at the tissue level.