Antineutrophil cytoplasm antibodies in patients with silicosis.

The presence of antineutrophil cytoplasm antibodies (ANCA) was followed up in silicosis with or without renal involvement. From the 68 patients with silicosis, 5 presented renal involvement. Of these 3 showed the presence of pANCA.

Study of lung antibodies in patients with silicosis.

The presence of lung antibodies was determined in a group of 68 patients with silicosis in various stages of evolution and in a control group of 35 healthy subjects, by the standard indirect immunofluorescent technique with fluorescent conjugate anti human gammaglobulin and monospecific fluorescent conjugates anti human IgG, IgA and IgM. In the group of patients investigated, lung antibodies were detected by means of fluorescent conjugate anti human gammaglobulin, in 47 cases of the 68 examined. As regards the investigations using monospecific fluorescent conjugates it was observed that all the 47 patients presented lung antibodies of the IgG class, 32 presented lung antibodies of the IgA class and 15 presented lung antibodies of the IgM class.

The role of certain immunologic parameters in silicosis.

The paper presents some possibilities of estimating the immunologic aggression in silicosis in a group of 68 patients divided into three subgroups according to the evolutive stage of disease. The results were compared with the data obtained in a control group of 35 clinically healthy subjects not subjected to respiratory noxae. Parameters such as the immunogram (IgG, IgA IgM, IgD), the C3 complement, the circulating immune complexes (CIC) and the C reactive protein (CRP) were investigated using classical immunochemical methods.