[Mononuclear cell response to fetoproteins in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in dysregenerative bronchial epithelial changes].

A relationship was studied between the response of mononuclear cells (MNC) to fetoproteins (FP) and the bronchial changes in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The response was evaluated by the change in the relative count of CD8+ lymphocytes after MNC incubation with FP as compared with the controls. The value of the response (in scores) was compared with the pathohistological pattern of the bronchial epithelium and interstitial tissue. The studies show that the values of a MNC response to FP are criteria for the presence and absence of dysplasia as one of the types of bronchial epithelial atypia. It is not improbable that patients with chronic inflammatory processes in the lung in the presence of a positive MNC response to FP should be regarded as persons at risk for malignancies.