Clinical and immunological criteria of the activity of inflammatory reaction and autolymphokine therapy in penetrating wounds of the eye

: Clinical and immunological criteria of an unfavorable course of posttraumatic process were defined and the efficacy of autolymphokine therapy in the postoperative treatment of patients with penetrating wounds to the eye assessed. A total of 119 patients were examined. Autolymphokine therapy supplemented the traditional postoperative treatment in 38 of them. An unfavorable course of the posttraumatic period was associated with high levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1-beta in the blood serum and lacrimal fluid, with accumulation and long persistence of high titers of antibodies to lens antigens and retinal S-antigen in the lacrimal fluid, with intensive cellular immune response to these antigens in the leukocyte migration inhibition test, and with a deficit of tissue-specific anticorneal antibodies in the lacrimal fluid during the first 3-4 weeks after the injury. In the event of a favorable outcome the cytokines were detected in the minimal amounts, and antibody titers were moderate. Autolymphokine therapy 2 to 3 times decreased the concentration of cytokines in the lacrimal fluid, maintained the moderate level of autoantibodies in the lacrimal fluid, decreased the incidence of the leukocyte migration inhibition and the duration of its detection, and shortened the period of autoantibody detection in the blood serum.