[Clinical trials of the new skin test Diaskintest for the diagnosis of tuberculosis].

A new reagent for a skin test given the name Diaskintest has been designed for the screening diagnosis of tuberculosis and preclinical and clinical trials conducted. Preclinical trials were carried out on 315 laboratory animals (guinea-pigs, albino mice). The reagent Diaskintest was ascertained to be nontoxic, to have no sensitizing properties, to be safe and specific, and to induce no positive reactions in BCG-vaccinated animals and healthy guinea-pigs.

Presence of cytokines in biological preparations.

In vaccines produced in eukaryote cells as well as in commercial medical preparations of leukocyte interferon a number of cytokines such as IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha have been detected. Among the vaccines examined in this study the highest level of IL-1beta was demonstrated in inactivated hepatitis A vaccine prepared in the green monkey kidney cell line 4647, that of IL-6 in inactivated rabies vaccine produced in Syrian hamster kidney (SHK) cell culture, and that of TNF-alpha in live poliomyelitis vaccine manufactured in VERO cells. A spontaneous and poliovirus-induced capacity of cell cultures to produce cytokines was detected.

The Origin of Adverse Reactions Induced by Vaccines.

The review deals with numerous etiologic factors that are responsible for the development of side-effects and complications after immunization. Different types of side-effects observed after administration of vaccines are classified as follows: pharmacological effects of vaccines; non-protective antibody formation; various forms of allergy; autoimmune reactions; immunomodulating and psychogenic effects of vaccines. Special attention is given to the characteristics of admixtures, which are contained in vaccines and may be a cause of adverse reactions, and to the immunologic safety of vaccines.