Clinical and pathogenetic significance of immunity factors in congenital generalized infection caused by the herpes simplex virus

Intrauterine infections are serious diseases that largely determine the level of infant mortality. Newborns who have had intrauterine infections often have long-term consequences, leading to disability. One of the intrauterine infections is a congenital infection caused by the herpes simplex virus (neonatal herpes). Neonatal herpes occurs less frequently (1:2000 live births) than cytomegalovirus fection, but the clinical symptoms in this disease are characterized by multiorgan damage.Purpose. To determine the role of immune factors in the development of congenital generalized HSV infection.Material and methods. Twenty-two newborns with a severe form of congenital generalized infection caused by the herpes simplex virus infection were examined (group I). The control group consisted of 26 healthy newborns born to women with uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth. Determination of the population and subpopulation composition of peripheral blood lymphocytes and monocytes, the level of expression of activation markers, T-regulatory cells (Treg) was carried out by laser fl w cytometry using reagents from Immunotex (France), Caltag (USA), HyCultbiotechnology (Netherlands): FITC (fl           escein isothiocyanate) — labeled CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD 16+, CD19+, CD282+ and PE (phycoerythrin)-labeled CD95+, CD25+, CD14+. Determination of the number of lymphocytes that have entered apoptosis using a diagnostic kit including Annexin-V, labeled with FITC and propidium iodide (PI), (Caltag, USA). The concentration of IFN-γ, IFN-α, IL-12 in the blood serum of newborns was determined by ELISA using BenderMedsistems test systems.Results. The development of a congenital generalized infection caused by the herpes simplex virus is associated with a lack of IFN-α, IFN-γ, IL-12 production, a decrease in the number of monocytes expressing TLR-2, a decrease in the relative number of CD8+, CD16+ lymphocytes, CD25+ activation markers, on the surface of NK cells, in combination with an increase in CD16 + CD95 +, AnnexinV + PI +, the number of Tregs.Conclusion. The results of the work indicate suppression of the early stages of the innate immune response, impaired effector function of immunocompetent cells, apoptosis processes