FREQUENCY OF DEVIATIONS FROM NORMAL VALUES IN THE BLOOD SUBPOPULATIONS’ PROFILE IN THE PATIENTS WITH CENTRAL CORNEAL ULCERS

This article presents a detailed description of shifts in subsets of blood lymphocyte subpopulations associated with development of the corneal ulcerative lesions as well as during penetrating keratoplasty.We have revealed some general changes typical for patients with corneal ulcer and patients with keratoplasty, reflecting inflammatory activity, i.e., a significant increase in the numbers of lymphocytes (CD45+), relative and absolute contents of the T-cell population (CD3+), CD3+ CD4+ subpopulation, and B-lymphocytes (CD19+), as compared with the control group. A statistically significant increase in natural killer cells (СD16+СD56+) proved to be a distinctive feature of the group with keratoplasty.When analyzing mean values of CD4+/CD8+ cells from the patients with corneal ulcer, there was no statistically significant difference between the clinical groups studied. However, individual comparison of nature and frequency of CD4+/CD8+ shifts among the patients with «high» index allowed qualitative separation of the third group (severe corneal ulcer): a severe imbalance of main T-cell subpopulations was detected 2.4 times significantly more often than in the group of patients with mild forms of corneal ulcers.The obtained data are important for understanding pathogenesis of centrally localized corneal ulcer, and should be taken into account when predicting and developing a differentiated approach to the treatment of the disease.