[Immunology - results of two decades of immunological research]

The discipline of immunology has made very rapid progress during the past twenty years. A general introductory part was followed by a discussion of immunological components in resistance. Subsequently, the importance of controlling the immunological system was stressed. The significance of the network theory was briefly referred to. Attention was then drawn to specific and non-specific stimulation of the immune response, which are essential both in theory and in actual practice. A number of instances are cited to illustrate these features in recent developments in the fields of preparation of vaccines and immunological treatment of cancer. It was pointed out that, during the past decades, the discipline of immunology not only made great strides in the field of human medicine and experimental animal models associated with this branch of medicine but also in that of veterinary medicine. It was predicted that immunology would also continue to be essential in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease in animals.

Immune responses and immunostimulation in tuberculosis therapy

Despite a reasonably extensive literature on cellular and humoral immune responses in tuberculous disease, abnormalities tend to be secondary rather than predisposing to disease. No discrete immune deficiency or failure, which would explain the progression from non-infection to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis to tuberculous disease, has been identified. There is evidence that tuberculous disease occurs in a spectrum, analogous to leprosy, and it would seem that if immunostimulants, as adjuncts to standard therapy, are to be of any value in the treatment of tuberculosis, they should be used for non-reactive tuberculosis patients. The range of immunostimulants currently available tends to be indiscriminate in action and their targets in tuberculous disease largely uncertain; their role in therapy in discussed.

[Antitumor activity and the effect on immunogenesis of combinations of rubomycin and carminomycin with levamisole]

The antitumor activity and effect on immunogenesis of rubomycin and carminomycin combinations with levamisole were studied comparatively. It was found that levamisole administered after carminomycin increased the intensity of delayed hypersensitivity in mice and only partially reduced immunoreactivity of the animals estimated by the number of antibody-forming cells in the spleen. No such effect was observed after injections of rubomycin. The antitumor effect of the combinations of the antibiotics wit levamisole was studied in experimental transplantable mouse lymphosarcoma L10-1. The use of rubomycin or carminomycin in combination with levamisole increased the survival of the animals and sometimes resulted in complete resolution of the tumors. No such effect was observed in treatment of the animals with the drugs alone. The data are indicative of a possible use of levamisole in combination with antitumor antibiotics in immunochemotherapy of tumors.

[Nature of the disturbance of immune protection in diabetes mellitus and its correction with levamisole]

The number of T-rosette forming cells was shown to be reduced, T-lymphocytes functional activity decreased, and phagocytic activity depressed in patients with diabetes mellitus. This may point to weak immune response of the body and favor the development of bacterial complications in such patients. Levamisol stimulates the above immunity parameters in diabetic patients.

Cellular immune modulation after a single high dose of Levamisole in patients with carcinoma

The effect of a single high dose of Levamisole (200 mg/M2) on delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) in vivo and on lymphocyte blastogenesis to mitogens and antigens in vitro was studied in 26 patients with carcinoma. Similar studies were conducted in 24 control patients. Levamisole had a moderate but significant enhancing effect on DTH to Dermatophytin detectable no earlier than eight hours and still present at 48 hours after the drug administration. A moderate but significant enhancing effect on lymphocyte blastogenesis to mitogens and antigens was also demonstrated during the same time sequence. Further clinical trials with Levamisole should be conducted with more attention paid to schedule of drug administration.

[Effect of levamisole on lymphoid cells in vitro]

The paper is concerned with a study in the levamisole effect on lymphoid cells of bone marrow, thymus, spleen and lymph nodes of guinea pigs and CBA/mice. It is shown that levamisole stimulates the differentiation of immature bone marrow and thymus lymphocytes and restores the rosette-forming ability of thymocytes previously heated at 45 degrees C for an hour.