Effect of medicinal leeches' antigens on the proliferative response of human blood mononuclear cells and cytokine production in vitro.

UNLABELLED The purpose of research is to study the influence of plant mitogens and antigens of the water-salt extract from the bodies of Hirudo verbana, H. medicinalis, H. orientalis on the reaction of lymphocyte blast-transformation and the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α) in patients' cell culture supernatants before and after hirudotherapy. RESEARCH METHODS the reaction of lymphocyte blast-transformation; the determination of proinflammatory cytokines by ELISA. After hirudotherapy increased values of the reaction of lymphocyte blasttransformation have got bigger in all stimulated types of cell culture, but reactivity on medicinal leeches antigens proceeded to unproductive immunogenesis (apoptosis and necrosis). In supernatants of mitogen- and antigen-stimulated lymphocyte cultures induced high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines after hirudotherapy have decreased adequately to apoptotic induction of lymphocytes by medicinal leeches' antigens.