RECURRENT RESPIRATORY DISEASES AND HUMORAL IMMUNE STATUS IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

Introduction. Currently, acute respiratory infections (ARI) are obviously considered to be the most topical issue of pediatric practice. It is worth noted that the age peculiarities of immune system in preschool children stipulated their higher vulnerability to infections and less differentiated response against infection process compared to older children and adults. Research aim consisted in finding out significant factors which are closely associated with serum immunoglobulin (Ig) levels in preschool children against the background of recurrent ARI. Materials and Methods. Eighty-six children (42 boys and 46 girls) aged one to four years old, undergoing inpatient treatment for acute respiratory infection, were involved in the clinical study. Two markers of ARI recurrence (infection index and resistance index) and two integral anthropometric indexes (body mass ratio and Verveck index) were calculated for each child. Integral indicator of dolichostenomelia, which is used as the marker of external signs of undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia, was determinated as well. Also, the total number of leukocytes and lymphocytes in blood was counted. Moreover, the determination of serum concentration of Ig A, M, G and E using enzyme-linked immune-electrodiffusion essay was carried out. The statistical processing of the obtained primary digital material was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics 26 licensed program. Only nonparametric statistics methods were applied for the purpose. Discussion. Numerous and bidirectional interdependencies between studied Ig as well as their relationships with particular studied clinical signs were found. The correlation is almost invariably weak or even very weak. At the same time, it turns out to be significant given that the number of observation units was quite large. It is reasonable that the markers of ARI recurrence in the examined children can only particularly be related to humoral immune status. Conclusions. To sum up, the physiologic values of Ig A, M, G and E serum concentration are most often revealed among examined preschool children. The several statistically significant bidirectional interdependences between researched Ig testify to combining of their effects in the realization of anti-infective organism protection. The infection index directly correlates with Ig E serum concentration emphasizing the importance of allergy as a major factor contributing to the development of recurrent respiratory diseases. There is positive correlation between summarized serum Ig and integral indicator of dolichostenomelia. Along with this, its significance rises under the condition of excluding the influence of particular or several factors, i.e. children’s age, body mass ratio and Verveck index.

Keywords

• preschool children, recurrent respiratory infections, serum immunoglobulins, undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia