[Increase of lysosomal cationic proteins of polymorphonuclear leukocytes as a response to opisthorchis invasion].

Cytochemistry was used to study the level of lysosomal cationic proteins of polymorphonuclear peripheral leukocytes in 25 and 20 patients with acute and chronic opisthorchiasis, respectively, before treatment. Comparison groups included patients with chronic viral hepatitis C, bronchial asthma, as well as apparently healthy individuals free of Opisthorchis invasion. That the ratios of an increase in the intracellular content of lysosomal cationic proteins to that in the control individuals were found to be 13.86 and 4.50 for acute and chronic opisthorchiasis, respectively. At the same time, the contribution of an allergic component (bronchial asthma) to the changes in the index studied is greater than that of somatic lesions of the hepatic parenchyma (viral hepatitis C). The authors suggest that it is expedient to use lysosomal cationic proteins in combination with other indices for making a diagnosis and determining the stage of the disease in Opisthorchis invasion.